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Luffy arrives like a tidal wave. He quite literally crashes into Sanji's world to make a mess of it.
The first time Sanji sees him, he feels like he's looking at the sun. There's something about the boy that forces Sanji to look at him, to observe his every movement like he's something to be admired. The first time they talk, Sanji tastes freedom on his tongue, the same flavor he's been searching his whole life unknowingly.
There's only so much freedom he can reach for under his mother's attentive gaze, although attentive is not really the word he'd use. He gets to use the kitchen's, practice his cooking like he wasn't able to when his father ruled; he gets to visit the Baratie whenever Germa comes to East Blue, even if he knows his time in the restaurant is short and he'll have to leave. That's about it.
Luffy shows him more.
He acts with no grace, manners thrown out of the window, but that's not what draws him to the boy. It's the way he speaks of his dreams, the way they sound like they're set on stone, like they'll come true doesn't matter how long it takes for him to reach it. Goals almost, not dreams. He believes them like they're reality, and it makes Sanji flush whenever the boy speaks.
He says he'll be the King of the Pirates, and Sanji believes him. He's read the story about Gold Roger, remembers Reiju telling him about it — when they still talked, at least — and remembers very well dreaming about sailing with Roger's crew into the Grand Line and being free. Daydreams that kept him sane as the days went by, that left him as he got older. He sees himself in Luffy's eyes for a moment, that same excitement he wishes he still had, and he hopes Luffy will fulfill this promise he's making, that he will be King of Pirates. He wants to see that boy thrive.
But Luffy also listens.
“And what's your dream?” He asks as they talk on the balcony, Sanji's cigarette dangling from his lips as he keeps them busy. He might do something he'll regret if he stops smoking.
He doesn't hesitate before asking if Luffy knows about the All Blue, not when the boy seems eager to hear him talk, and the expression on his face as Sanji explains to him about the story of that sea fills Sanji's chest with a warmth he hadn't felt before.
“That's a great dream,” Luffy says with a chuckle when Sanji finishes, and he means it.
The only person who ever agreed with him had been Zeff, the old man sharing Sanji's dream but unable to reach for it. Sanji is aware he expects Sanji to be the one to reach it, to fulfill that dream for him, and the blonde never had the guts to tell the old man why he couldn't, how trapped he is as long as he's his mother's son.
He remembers talking to Sora once about the All Blue, remembers quietly asking “Do you think I'll find one day?”
Sora had stared at him, a quiet gaze as she read his expression, darkness crossing her eyes for a quick moment before they went soft again, before her smile took over her face.
“We'll find it for you, mon caneton,” she had said in a soft voice, a promise.
It wasn't the answer he wanted to hear.
He had tried asking Yonji once, too, on one fateful day where his younger sibling had been assigned to watch over Sanji while in new territory, making sure no one would try anything on the prince while Sora dealt with the politics of the meeting. He still tries not to think how his brothers and sister weren't given the same treatment — war machines don't need protection, he thinks coldly, remembering his mother's quiet words one day; just the thought of it had made his stomach twist and turn.
He had been reading a log book from a pirate ship that had searched for the All Blue long ago, his eyes shining as he walked around the room and read at the same time, stopping to give Yonji a look. His younger brother seemed to be deep in thought there, blue eyes staring at the ground as his arms crossed in front of his chest. For a second, Yonji looked almost sad.
“Do you think it's true?” Sanji had called out, seeing how his brother's eyes moved to look up at him. Ever since Ichiji, Sanji knows all his siblings hesitate before talking to him, although Yonji always dares more. “The All Blue, I mean. Do you think it exists?”
“Why would I care?” Yonji had said back with a scowl. “For you it just might, your highness.”
The meaning of Yonji’s words had left a sour taste on his tongue ever since.
“You'll find it,” Luffy says, that smile on his face almost blinding, like it's all Sanji can see. “It's your dream, isn't it? So you will find it.”
He barely notices when he moves forward, taking the cigarette from his lips, and pulls Luffy close until their lips meet. He wants to drink those words, to press that smile against his own mouth until he can smile like that too, he wants the mouth that said everything Sanji has ever wanted to hear to press against his until he says the words with the same conviction, until he feels like his dreams are set in stone, a fate he's destined to meet.
Luffy's hand holds him by the back of his neck, warm fingers pressing against gold strands and scratching at the scalp, pulling Sanji closer but not trapping him there. He kisses like an invite, one Sanji is unable to refuse, and it's not trapping, but it's claiming. Luffy kisses him back like the boy himself wants to drink Sanji's dreams in, until they're his too. It feels like a promise, even if Sanji would never be able to fulfill his side.
The fight to keep the Baratie safe ends with a victory, although Sanji feels weary. He helps Zeff inside, tends to the few wounds the old man has while completely ignoring his own. Luffy is outside, his swordsman wounded, his ship gone together with his navigator, the redheaded woman betraying the captain for what Sanji had been able to gather. He doesn't believe she had betrayed him, not really. There had been a glimmer in Nami's eyes whenever she looked at Luffy, a love that he's not sure she was aware of herself — you don't betray love like that, Sanji is sure of it; there had been a really, whatever that reason might be.
Luffy had looked a little lost despite not showing it, something inside those dark eyes showing how confused he was as things fell apart around him, and Sanji hadn't been able to ignore it or the way conviction took doubt’s place.
Luffy's dreams are set in stone, whatever is happening is only a small setback, something meant to happen so his dream can happen — that seems to be what the boy believes. Sanji wishes he could believe this strongly.
He feels a hard punch against his head, yelping before looking up at Zeff, who looks back with a hard stare.
“What the fuck?”
“Go with him,” Zeff mutters. Sanji understands what he means immediately. “Eggplant, I don't fully understand why you can never stay here when you look so happy whenever you're in my goddamned restaurant, but I know someone who's trapped when I see them. He can break you free.”
“I'm not trapped,” Sanji complains, finishing up cleaning the blood from Zeff's wounds and hastily cleaning the blood that threatens to fall over his eye.
“Is that what you tell yourself?” Sanji purses his lips, glares back at Zeff as the man keeps that hard gaze on him, trying to push him — not away, but forward. “No one deserves to be trapped and alone, Sanji.”
“I can't go with you,” Sanji mutters, and the words hurt to say. He wants so much it cuts him deep until he's bleeding; Luffy notices it.
“I need you as my cook,” Luffy insists, and comes closer until their faces are almost pressing together. He can feel Luffy's warm breath against his skin, Luffy's nose brushing against his as he looks up into Sanji's eyes. “I need you, Sanji.”
“Need me,” Sanji repeats back to him, seeing Luffy nod. “You don't know who I am.”
“You're Sanji,” the boy says, simple as that and something in his voice tells him that Luffy means a lot more than just his name by saying that. “That's enough for me.”
“If I go with you, I might get you and everyone else in trouble,” he says. He tries not to think what the Queen of Germa would do if she found out her son ran away with pirates, tries not to think of the pain, or of Luffy and his crew being hurt.
“We're pirates,” Luffy chuckles, the air that comes from his mouth hitting Sanji's lips. “Trouble is what we do.”
“I can't…”
Their lips meet, and there's that promise again, the way he kisses as if Sanji is his already. He's seen Luffy kiss the others too, and wonders if they feel the same, if their captain’s kiss makes them bend until there's nothing but Luffy. The boy takes Sanji's lip between his teeth, sharp canines breaking the skin and taking a quiet whimper from the blonde as he feels Luffy licking at the blood, the sting of it making Sanji shake.
He tastes freedom on his lips again, tastes the daydreams he had when he had been a child, dreaming of pirates and of someplace where he does feel so alone, where his life isn't decided for him and he feels the warmth of being around people who care again. It's addicting.
“Come with me,” Luffy whispers against his lips.
Sanji breathes out a quiet “Yes.”
He feels a smile against his lips, hands moving to cup his face both gently and demanding as the kiss deepens.
How could he possibly say no?