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Even though it was already November, the weather was still quite warm. They must have been near an island with a warm climate. Sanji would love to spend the time on the deck, breathing in the fresh salty sea air. However, he couldn’t neglect his responsibilities. So he stood at the sink in the kitchen, washing breakfast dishes. The unlit cigarette loosely hung from his lips as he worked on his task, his mind empty. As he was putting a plate on the rack to dry off, the door to the galley burst open. He jumped in surprise, quickly turning around to see the potential threat.
“Oh.” It was just his captain barging into the room like something was on fire.
“SANJI!” Luffy shouted, closing the distance between them in three steps.
“Go away, Luffy,” Sanji mumbled, turning his back to Luffy to continue with the dishes. “You’ve just eaten.”
“I’m not here for that,” Luffy said, his tone always excited. “Sanji, it’s Zoro’s birthday today. Make him a birthday cake, please!”
“Ugh,” Sanji grumbled, rolling his eyes at the thought. But as he looked at his captain, seeing his pleading eyes, he knew he was going to do it.
“Anything special you have in mind?”
Luffy thought about it for a moment, or at least he looked like he was thinking about it. But then he shook his head, his eyes lighting up with excitement. “No,” he exclaimed, a huge grin on his face. “But I’m sure you’ll figure something out.” He smacked Sanji’s shoulder, grinning the whole time. “After all, you’re the best cook in the entire world.”
Sanji couldn’t help but smile. His captain’s never-ending optimism was contagious. Everyone who spent at least a little time with Luffy would attest to that.
“Fine, I’ll do it,” he said, already spinning ideas in his mind. “But no one walks in here until I come out, understand? Especially not Zoro.”
“Understood.” Luffy nodded, a huge smile plastered on his face. “Thank you, Sanji,” he said, hugging the cook from the side. “It’s gonna be the best birthday party ever!”
“Alright, alright. Off you go now. I need to work.” Sanji ushered him to the entrance, showing him the way.
“When I'm already here, can I have a snack?” Luffy asked, a spark of hope in his voice.
“No, now get out,” Sanji replied, his voice more commanding now.
Luffy let out a disappointed sound and hung his head between his shoulders, walking out of the door.
***
It was some time before noon when Sanji walked out of the galley, calling the Strawhats to come inside. All five of them gathered in the room, everyone but Zoro excited about what was about to come. Zoro eyed his crewmates with suspicion. Their grinning faces told him something was going on. Something he didn't know about. Not that he cared, anyway. But it seemed weird. Putting his suspicions in the back of his mind, he walked towards the cabinets and took out a bottle of sake. Still observing his crewmates from the corner of his eye, he poured a glass and turned to face them.
“Why's everyone acting weird?” he mumbled as he glided his gaze from one smiling crewmate to another.
“ZORO!” Luffy exclaimed, throwing his arms around him in a surprise hug. Zoro grunted as Luffy’s body hit him, balancing the glass of sake so as not to spill it.
“What is this about?” he asked, frowning.
“HAPPY BIRTHDAY, ZORO!” Luffy’s voice sounded muffled, since he still had his face in Zoro's chest, crushing him with his arms. The swordsman put the glass down to pull Luffy off of him.
“Well, you don’t need to yell, Luffy,” he said, patting his captain on the shoulder. “But thanks.”
“Sanji made you a cake!” Luffy said, not shouting anymore, but still loud enough for Zoro to need to step away from him.
“Did he, now?” he asked, skeptical. He eyed the cook standing next to the fridge, knowing immediately something was not right. The cook looked like he was barely holding the laughter in, his face almost red with effort.
“Hmm,” Zoro hummed, narrowing his eyes. “Let’s see it then.”
Sanji turned around and opened the fridge, pulling out a round plate. When he turned back, everyone gasped.
“No, he didn’t…,” Nami whispered, her mouth open.
Usopp couldn’t help it and chuckled. “He totally did.”
Sanji walked towards Zoro, a smug smirk on his face. The cake he was carrying looked horrible. The corpus was a chocolate brown circle with a haphazardly smudged greyish cream over it. There was a small inscription in the center of the cream that said: "fuck off". And above that inscription were three cigarettes instead of candles. Zoro felt his heart rate rising, his hand itching to grab his swords. Then Sanji put the cake on the table and reached to take one cigarette out.
“Let me light up the candles for you, marimo,” he said, his face still adorned with that never-ending smirk. He put the cigarette to his mouth and lit it, keeping eye contact with Zoro the whole time.
Zoro's first instinct was to cut his cigarette right there and then with his sword. But then a better idea sparked in his mind, making his lips curve into a devilish grin. Sanji didn’t register it, too preoccupied with blowing out the smoke right into Zoro’s face. And so Zoro grabbed the glass of half-drank sake and when Sanji put the cigarette to his mouth again, he struck. Zoro threw the alcoholic drink right into Sanji's face, laughing out loud.
“Just blowing out my birthday candles, shitty cook!” he exclaimed, trying to control his laughter.
Sanji’s face turned red in an instant. It almost seemed like the smoke wasn’t coming only from his mouth, but also from his ears.
“YOU STINKY MARIMO!” he yelled, lunging into a kick. But Zoro blocked it out with the hilt of his sword, preparing for his own attack.
“Well, I guess this didn’t turn out the way Luffy expected,” Nami sighed, watching Sanji and Zoro fight in the corner.
“I don’t know,” Usopp shrugged, pointing at Luffy. Their captain was watching the fight with a huge grin on his face, cheering them on. “Maybe it did.”
Nami sighed again, shaking her head. “I need a drink.” She went and retrieved two glasses out of the cabinet and poured the sake Zoro opened a little while ago. As she was making her way back to Usopp, she saw Luffy stuffing his face with Zoro’s cake.
“LUFFY!” she yelled, prepared to punch him in the head. “Don’t eat Zoro’s birthday cake!”
“What?” Luffy looked at her, brown crumbles falling from his mouth. “Why not? The real one is in the fridge.”
Nami blinked a few times, processing the information. She looked at Usopp who shrugged again, showing he too had no idea what Luffy was talking about. He turned around and opened the fridge, looking inside. Nami set down the glasses and made her way to the fridge too.
“That looks amazing,” Usopp gasped, his mouth open. “Look how soft it looks. What is it on it, anyway? It looks like grass.”
Nami stared at the cake inside the fridge, perfectly round and green all over. It looked like a soft moss that grew under the trees in the forest. She was about to say something when she noticed a hand stretching out of the corner of her eye.
“NO!” she yelled, shutting the fridge door before Luffy’s hand could reach inside.
“I wasn’t going for the cake,” Luffy said with his mouth full, retracting his arm back. He looked for a moment, but that soon changed when he put another piece of Sanji’s cake in his mouth. “This is fantastic,” he mumbled, licking his fingers covered in the cream.
***
A few hours passed, and the day was coming to an end. It was warm enough to sit outside with a few more layers of clothes, so the Strawhats decided to give it another go. They set out a table and chairs on the deck, prepared to celebrate Zoro's birthday. Sanji showered and changed into a clean suit, making himself presentable again. He was now coming out of the galley with a plate of soft-looking green cake with fresh forest fruit on top of it. The Strawhats were sitting around the table, drinks in their hands. As Sanji walked out, they started singing Happy Birthday, everyone looking at Zoro. The swordsman didn't know what to do while the others were singing, so he quietly sipped on his sake. As Sanji set the cake on the table, the song ended. Everyone started to compliment the cake and that smug grin appeared on Sanji's face again.
“Thank you,” he said, smiling brightly. Gesturing to the plate he continued: “It’s called a moss cake.”
Unfortunately, Zoro was sitting in the same direction as the cake. And so another misunderstanding arose.
“WHAT DID YOU JUST CALL ME, SHITTY COOK?” Zoro yelled, immediately jumping to his feet, and drawing his swords.
“YOU MORON! I WAS TALKING ABOUT THE CAKE, STUPID MARIMO!” Sanji retorted, blocking Zoro’s swords with his kicks.
“Not again,” Nami cried out, banging her head against the table in a quiet desperation.
It seemed like it was not destined for them to celebrate Zoro's birthday like normal people.