Chapter Text
In a corner of Morgan's office secluded from others, there lay 4 weary journalists on the floor, their heads almost touching each other, and staring straight up into the high ceiling. One of them idly swatted a piece of paper that came flying from a table.
"What do reports from Wano say?" Fred asked after his view was cleared.
"That there was an alliance between the Kid Pirates, Straw Hat Pirates, and Heart Pirate." Genny answered from his right. "That was after the first alliance between Kid Pirates, Hawkins Pirates, and the On-Air Pirates fell through, reportedly due to betrayal of Scratchmen and Hawkins."
"It was also a continuation of Straw Hats and Heart Pirates alliance from Dressrosa if other reports are to be believed." Julia spoke up, with her legs resting on the wall and her hands behind her head.
"Well, what do they say about the nature of the alliance though? Was it just a one time thing or is a future team up likely?" Fred asked, starting to sit up. Maybe they would need to change the ceiling after all.
"Kid Pirates seem to have been grudgingly joining the other 2, with Kid often not caring about his fellow compatriots. But Trafalgar on the other hand..." Kyle trailed off, a gleam in his eye, "He seemed to be very much interested in the wellbeing of the Straw Hat Pirates, especially one Roronoa Zoro."
Suddenly there was a flurry of activity, as all four of them jumped up and twisted around to look at each other. A beat of silence followed before Genny said, "One more for TraRo"
They all looked at her with shock on their faces. "That's the worst ship name ever Genny. I think it should be LawRo." said Fred
"Demon Heart?" Added Julia to the approval of most of them. "Let's just go simple shall we? ZoLaw?" Kyle said, already moving to write the name on their board of ships while adding in the new information under evidence.
"Naaah, that always reminds me of Zosan and we all know how that went." Julia said, an angry emotion crossing her face before going back to being calm. The others fell silent like they always did when Vinsmoke Sanji was mentioned. Zosan was a popular ship in the Morgan's Post-Editorial Department, secretly known as Morgan's Shipping Department, ever since their rivalry was made common knowledge. But then came the revelation that Black Leg Sanji was actually Vinsmoke Sanji, the third prince of Germa-66. That in itself shouldn't have made much of a difference to the members of the Department, but after many tissues and tears were shed, Julia spoke of Germa-66's impact on her life and her island.
After that, not many were willing to continue speaking about Zosan and the board of ships no longer had their name on it, so sure they were that Vinsmoke Sanji will be just like the rest.
The disappointment still stung at them every time they thought of it.
"About that..." Kyle began hesitantly. He was the one who had read through most of the reports they had on Wano and the one who had suggested they begin reassessing some of their ships based on the new information.
All eyes turned to him now, where he stood near the board staring at the worn out Zosan column. "There were reports that Vinsmoke Sanji kept denying that he is a Vinsmoke."
Julia's eyebrows raised in disbelief, ready to deny the possibility of such a thing, when Fred spoke up. "There have been reports from recent fights as well where he was seen to be busy refuting the same in every fight."
"Seriously?" Genny asked while Julia still remained conflicted."Yeap. Fresdom Island also actually saw Roronoa standing up for Vinsmoke and asking them to call him Sanji or... well idiot cook." Fred continued, knowing what was to follow. "Hah! I told you Idiot Marimo or Marimo Cook would also be a good name for them." Kyle spoke up, evidently still sore about his beautiful ship names being thrown out the window.
"But still... it doesn't take away the fact that Black Leg Sanji is a Vi--" Julia, who finally spoke, was interrupted by a new voice saying "Black Leg Sanji is not a Vinsmoke and Zosan is real!".
They all stared in shock at the Den, who barged into the room, panting, but smiling still, waving a piece of paper in their hand.
The silence lasted until Den was able to catch their breath and slowly look at them with a smile on their face.
"Den, what do you mean?" Julia asked, getting over her shock first.
"Deheheheh, just what I meant. Black Leg Sanji is not a Vinsmoke and Zosan is real. The new bounty poster says it all." They showed them the paper in their hand and the others crowded around them eager to see what the bounty says.
Staring right at them was Sanji wearing what looked to be a groom's outfit, turning around with a smile on his face, heart in his visible eye, as a hand was raised holding on to cake with the other waving at the camera (evidently held by a female). It was the band around his finger on that hand that brought a still to their thoughts.
"Guys... look at the name." Fred whispered. Julia was reminded of the time when they all found out about Sanji's surname and read on with no little amount of trepidation, only to be utterly shocked by the name for the second time in her life. Only this time, it was a pleasant surprise.
"Roronoa Sanji?!" Exclaimed Genny and Kyle before they grinned and began dancing around the room.
"Den what in the world happened?" Fred asked, still staring dumbly at the poster.
"According to the reports of Marine Cadet Bondi, recruited under Captain Gunther, the Straw Hat Pirates had infiltrated their base and had run around causing havoc as always. The difference however was that they were all wearing formal clothes. Most surprising were Roronoa Zoro and Vin-well, Roronoa Sanji. They were dressed up as grooms."
"Both of them?" Julia exclaimed, looking up at Den. Genny and Kyle, who had realised that they were missing a good part of the story came back to the group and sat in front of Den. Taking the opportunity, Den, ever the dramatist, stood up on a table to regale their story.
"Indeed, it was the two of them. The unlikely lovers, who wore suits and looked like grooms. Initially Bondi and most others had thought that Nami or Nico Robin were the brides, but neither of them were wearing any bridal wear and instead rocked their own suits, almost as if they were the best men of one of them." Genny swooned at the image of her lovely Nico Robin wearing a suit and standing at the end of the aisle waiting for her. Julia knocked her up the head and pointed at her slowly bleeding nose in amusement.
"When Captain Gunther stopped them and asked Vinsmoke Sanji and Roronoa Zoro to put down the cake and surrender, Sanji, as expected by then, had opened his mouth but declared to be Roronoa Sanji instead!" Gasps filled the room before Julia huffed. "They should know not all marriages are legally accepted, even if they really wanted it to be." Even as her tapered off Zosan obsession had been reborn due to the possibility that Sanji really was not like the others of that horrendous empire, she knew the reality of their world just like all the others.
"That's practically what Captain Gunther said!" Den bounced on the balls of their feet, eager to get to the best of the story. "But then, Straw Hat pulled out a marriage certificate from his pants, quite literally, and brandished it at the marines before they all jetted off from there. And what do you know? They legally married off the coast of the Island of Love."
Eyes widened in their sockets, they all stared at each other. Kyle and Genny realised the magnitude of the news now, having thought that it was just a claim made by Sanji all this while out of love for his fellow crewmate. But the fact that it was legal made it come across that Zosan really was real now.
"You know what this means?" Fred asked, a smile slowly creeping up his face. "ZoLaw cannot be real." Kyle and he smirked and looked straight at Den who was also starting to smile. "And that means," Kyle continued, "that LaLu can be real."
Soon all three of them had begun dancing around the room with joy. Genny who was still riding the high of the moment, looked towards the only other silent person in the room.
Julia still stared at the paper in her hands and was beginning to shake. "Hey, Julia. What's wrong?" Her voice brought the other three out of their merriment and they all quickly stared at her, ready for any tears or to abandon Zosan again.
However, she began smiling and looked at them all. "Have I ever told you about Baratie?"
"Bara-what?" Kyle asked, tilting his head to look at her. "Once when I was in East Blue, before I got a desk job and had to go around taking stock of upcoming pirates, I was stranded on a desolate island for a week before a merchant ship happened to pass by. They themselves were running short on supply after a freak storm had upturned most of their crates. And apparently we were all lucky because Baratie was just a day away."
"What is Baratie though?" Genny asked curiously. "Oh it's just the weirdest looking ship ever, but its a restaurant on the sea, manned by a couple of no good waiters and cooks but serving the most delicious meal of all time. Only, I didn't get to eat it immediately. The merchants were all famished and ran off to tables as soon as we docked and no one had realised that I didn't have any money on me. I was sulking around wondering if I would have to sell my pen for it after all, when a plate of steaming and delicious food was placed in front of me."
All the others were raptly listening to her story with wonder in their eyes. "Standing in front of me was Vin... Roronoa Sanji, though at the time I didn't know his name of course." She chuckled, while the rest leaned back in shock. They had known Roronoa Sanji was from the East Blue but to think he was a part of a sea restaurant before he became a pirate that would go on to be an emperor!
"I only knew his as Eggplant then." Julia laughed at the faces of her friends and coworkers who looked like they were trying to put the sun and the moon together by force as they tried to connect Black Leg Sanji, one of the wings of Straw Hat Pirates, one of the most ferocious fighter on Grand Line, with an eggplant.
"Eggplant?!" Genny asked. "That's what the others called him at least. They all berated him for feeding someone who wouldn't pay them, they'd already figured out from my tattered clothes I guess. But he just kicked them all and declared, quite heroically I might add, that no one goes hungry on his watch. Food or no food. I think I fell a little in love with him then."
Somewhere, a few islands over, a twirly browed cook snapped to attention, feeling his ears blush, not knowing the cause for such a reaction. It was soon put out of his mind, however, when he had to quickly bat away his demonic captain's hands away from his plate.
"I think I'm a little in love too." Fred swooned. A twirly brow twitched in annoyance and glared at nothing in particular. This time, the captain was successful. Fred shuddered, feeling as if the wrath of ten men was suddenly on him.
Julia chuckled and wiped a stray tear away. The others looked on, alarmed, as she continued. "I don't know how he made it or how he even knew, but it tasted just like home in North Blue. I found it weird that he would know that cuisine, but looking back I guess I know how. It hurt all the more when I realised his family, well ex-family now, was the reason for my home's destruction. I'm just glad that my first impression was right." Julia smiled at the poster and walked to the board of ships while the rest smiled at her.
"Roronoa Sanji is truly kind."