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Disclaimer: I do not own any of the One Piece Characters or plot!
No one left his restaurant or in this case kitchen hungry.
That was his golden rule.
He was confident in his skills. He’s capable of whipping up dishes to satisfy even the toughest critics. Hell, he even managed to save a whole island from destruction with his mean culinary skills.
Yet, as he sat in the kitchen with tussled hair and blood shot eyes, he begrudgingly pondered the idea that perhaps, just perhaps… there is just this slight possibility that there is someone in this world with a tough enough palate that he wouldn’t be able to win over with his cooking. He sighed as he rubbed his face tiredly.
Perhaps he should just swallow his pride and give Zeff a call? Maybe he would have more knowledge in this field than him, given the extra years of experience he has on him.
His eyes scanned through the list of crossed out items for the fifth time.
Fish
Duck
Chicken
Pork
Mashed Potato
Carrots
Green peas
.
.
.
His frown grew deeper as his eyes landed on the last item on the list.
.
.
.
Orange
How could he be out of ideas? There has to be something that Nami would be able to stomach down. He should have known that their child would have an unimaginable high standard when it comes to food…He was reaching for the den den mushi when he heard the door open up behind him.
“Sanji kun?”
Sanji’s head shot up at Nami’s voice and he scrambled to cover up the papers scattered all over the table.“Nami san, what are you doing here? You really should be resting before dinner time? Wait! Are you…hungry?”
Nami smiled as she strolled over to her husband as she picked up a piece of paper that he missed.
“Nami luv…” Sanji mumbled trying to come up with an excuse.
*sniff *
His eyes widened with panic when he caught her facial expression. He stood up in frantic, rushing towards her as his chair toppled over behind him.
Nami bit down on her lips trying to stop the tears from overflowing. She hated feeling like this. Damn it! This wasn’t her. She doesn’t cry over little things. But with her hormones in overdrive, she was constantly finding herself crying over the simplest of things. As she continued to scold herself, the tears continued to flow.
“Nami luv, what’s wrong?”Sanji asked worriedly as he attempted to wipe away her tears, his own tears threatening to spill.
“Nothing!” Nami choked. It was absolutely nothing. She was just frustrated that she couldn’t stomach his food and she knew that it was taking more of a toll on him than it was on her, “I…I didn’t mean to throw up. I-”
“I know, I know.”
“There’s nothing wrong with your cooking.” Nami choked as she wiped at her tears furiously, “Damn it… my emotions are all over the place.”
If any of the other Strawhat crew saw her like this, they would be having a field day.
“I know I know.” Sanji replied as he brought her into his arms and that movement only served to make her tears roll down more furiously. She gripped tighter onto his shirt and sobbed into it.
Her sobs stopped abruptly when she a smell drafted to her nose, “Sanji kun? What’s that?”
Sanji turned in panic as he noticed the burning pot on the stove behind them and quickly ran over to turn it off. He cursed when in his rush to turn off the stove, he accidentally knocked the sliced banana and chocolate sauce for dessert into the fish soup he was cooking. He will finish this by himself later or maybe have Luffy finish it. He tried to not let this novice mistake bother him as he put up a comforting smile for Nami. He was shocked when she sided up to him and he quickly slammed the lid down to cover up his failed dish.
“What’s that?”
“Nami luv-”
“It smells delicious.”
“Ah?” Sanji whirled around in surprise.
As Sanji ladled up a bowl of soup, he can’t help but recall the similarities it shared with his first failed cooking that he served his mother. He turned around to face Nami, “Nami san, are you sure you want to try this? I mean-”
Nami nodded enthusiastically as she took the bowl from him, “I’m starved!”
“This is delicious!” Nami beamed as she swallowed the spoonful of soup. She closed her eyes and placed a hand on her cheeks as she relished the flavor of the soup.
THIS!
This is what she’s craving. The tenderness of the fish, the sweetness of the banana, the sour pickles and the sweet sweet chocolate. Everything that should taste wrong combined on her usual palate now seemed to dance together in symphony.
Sanji stared dumbfoundedly at Nami as her figure seemed to overlap with the figure of his mother smiling at him.
“Sanji?” Nami asked worriedly as she repeated a second time when Sanji didn’t respond, “Sanji kun?”
Sanji caught himself and walked over to hug Nami from behind, “yes? Nami luv?”
“What were you thinking about?” Nami asked she turned to look at Sanji who now has his head buried in her hair, “is something wrong?”
“it’s nothing,” Sanji shook his head, “I was just thinking about my mother and what it would be like if she was still here.“ He smiled as he looked at the bowl in Nami’s hands, “you know, my first failed attempt at cooking looked a lot like this. She would have loved you dearly for how you always accepted my flaws.”
“What was she like? Your mother?” Though Sanji had shared a few memories of his mother with Nami, it was still rather rare moments when he does open up and mention how much he misses her.
“She’s an amazing woman.” Sanji smiled, “an awfully strong woman. She sacrificed so much for us to have a chance at a normal life…or for me at least.” He tightened his fist as he looked down, letting out a bitter laugh, “and I killed her in the end.” He let out a shaky breath,“I just can’t help but think that the poison she ingested to cancel out the experiments he did on my brothers and I wasn’t worth it.” He scoffed, “What a fair trade off that is. My life for hers…what a waste-”
“Don’t say that.” Nami slapped her hand over his mouth, “You could never be a waste. Everything your mother did, was out of love for you. She gave us you, and for that I will always be thankful.” She sighed as she traced Sanji’s face, remembering how much he resembled Bellemere when he bid them goodbye at Wano, “I used to think the same about Bellemere, hated her for throwing her life away and taking in two brats like us that aren’t even blood related. I hated myself for my childish tantrum that led to her death.”
Nami swallowed down a choke, “if only she hadn’t feel obliged to tell Arlong that we were a family, then she would still be here…For the longest time, I thought that I could only repent by earning back the village, no matter the consequence. But you guys came into my life and reminded me that I had more to live for, that all Bellemere wanted for me and Nojiko was to do what we love, live our life to the fullest in her memory and most importantly, be happy. Isn’t that what your mother and sister wants for you? To be happy? So please don’t hate yourself for what she did to save you, for you to have a chance to live the life to the fullest, to explore and love.”
Nami said as she placed a hand on her stomach, “Now with this little one on the way, I think, I can start to resonate with what Bellemere and your mother was feeling. I would do anything if it meant this little one has a chance at better life.” She smiled as she nudged Sanji, “isn’t that what you’re doing too, when you’re reaching for the den den mushi to call Zeff?”
“You saw that?”Sanji blushed as he scratched the back of his head, “I should call him later and see if he has some maternity dishes he recommends.”
“I guess what our mothers did, gave us a chance to meet and build this weird little new family that can be quite chaotic at times,” Sanji smiled thinking of the StrawHats members.
“our child will have twice the love from our mothers which was taken from us too soon,”Nami chuckled, “moreover, our child will have more than just our sisters to protect us, they have a whole crew right here.”
“you hear that little one? Like your grandmothers, all papa and mama want from you is to be happy. So, be good for us ok? Papa will continue trying to find dishes that will satisfy your exquisite palate,”Sanji smiled as he pulled Nami back with him, covering the little baby bump with his hands, “which reminds me, we really should send those message to Reiju and Nojiko neesan before they hear about the baby from someone else.”
“Nah,” Nami sighed as she leaned back against Sanji, “let us be free from the inevitable battle for the godmother title just a little while longer. We still have a good 9 months to go.”
“So at least 13 more months before I can create the perfect baby food to satisfy this little critic’s palate,” Sanji nodded, “given your morning sickness, I have a feeling I need all the time I can.”
“Speaking of which,” Nami chuckled, “isn’t it almost dinner time? Luffy, Chopper and Brooke will be knocking at the door any moment now.”
“SAANNNNJIIIIIII!!!! FOOOOODDD!!!!”
“and right on time.” Sanji shook his head as he turned to yell at the door, “settle down you rascals! Dinner will be done soon!”