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“Ohayō gozaimasu!” (Good morning)
You look up to see the blonde cook smiling at you brightly. You tilt your head to the side as you try to recall any Japanese you could remember. You blink as you purse your lips, not noticing the way Sanji’s smile falters at your silence. A thought pops into your head as you remember hearing him shout something in french during the battle from yesterday.
“Bonjour, ça va?” (Good morning, are you well?) The words come out a bit foreign, slow and hesitant. Hoping that your accent wasn’t too off, you give him a small smile. You watch in surprise as his eyes widen and his smile turns into a grin at your response.
“Vous-parlez français?” (You speak french?) He asks with his eyes sparkling, leaning in a bit.
”Euh… Oui, mais… je ne le parle pas très bien. Je suis désolé.” (Uh… yes, but… I don’t speak it very well. I’m sorry.) You respond shyly as you can clearly hear his french accent now that he’s speaking it. It’s always awkward to speak someone in a language that you aren’t too confident in, especially if it’s their native language.
”C’est ne pas une problème,” (It’s not a problem.) He says, waving his hand in a dismissive gesture. ”L’important est que vous puissiez me comprendre.” (The important thing is that you can understand me.)
”Les autres…” (The others…) you murmur, “Ils ne parlent pas le français?” (They don’t speak French?) You ask, wondering why a frenchman would join a crew of people who couldn’t speak his language.
”Euh… non.” (Uh… no.) He looks a bit disappointed at this response before be perks up again. “Nous communiquons en japonais. C’est un peu difficile à apprendre, mais il est important de parler avec tout le monde pour comprendre ce qui se passe,” (We communicate through Japanese. It’s a bit difficult to learn, but it’s important to speak with everyone to know what’s going on.) He explained, giving you an encouraging smile.
You mull over his words for a moment, looking down at the table before nodding in understanding.
“Pouvez-vous… Pouvez-vous enseigner moi le japonais… s’il te plaît?” (Can you… can you teach me Japanese, please?) You ask, eyes looking back up at him hopefully.
He has his hands in his pockets as he looks at you, seemingly considering your question carefully. You'd think he would be someone to immediately jump at the chance of having alone time with a woman, maybe you shouldn’t judge him so quickly.
“Le français ne c’est pas ton langue natif, oui?” (French isn’t your native language, yes?) He asks carefully.
You chuckle, nodding in response.
”Est-ce si facile remarquer?” (Is is that easy notice?) You add jokingly.
”’À’ remarquer,” (‘To’ notice,) he corrects with an amused smile. You roll your eyes with a light flush of your cheeks.
”Quelle est ton langue natif?” (What’s your native language?) He questions, intrigued by your multilingualism.
”Ah. Je parle l’anglais et l’espagnol,” (Oh. I speak English and Spanish,) you answer confidently.
”L’anglais et l’espagnol?” (English and Spanish?) Surprised that you knew more than two. You feel your confidence boost at his reaction.
”Attendez... comment pouvez-vous avoir deux langues maternelles?” (Hold on… how can you have to mother languages?)
You blink before sighing, not sure how to word this in french. Its been the same song and dance many times before, but never with someone who spoke french.
”Mon mère parle anglais, et mon père parle espagnol.” (My mother speaks English, and my father speaks Spanish.) You pause, thinking on how to explain your mixed childhood.
”J’ai vécu au… Isla Puerto pour beaucoup ans. Mon mère enseignée mon frère et moi l’anglais au notre maison… et mon frère et moi avons appris l’espagnol à l’école,” (I lived in… Isla Puerto for many years. My mother taught English to my brother and I at home… and my brother and I learned Spanish at school,) you explain, trying your best to recall your french vocabulary while neglecting your grammatical mistakes. “Euh… vous comprend?” (Uh… do you understand?)
He nodded as he gave you a look of interest. “Franky parle anglais et Luffy parle portugais. Je sais que le portugais est différent de l'espagnol, mais est-ce similaire, ou non?” (Franky speaks English and Luffy speaks Portuguese. I know that Portuguese and Spanish are different, but they’re pretty similar, or not?)
You blinked twice before you processed what he said before you jumped to your feet. “Franky parle anglais? Pourquoi tu ne me l'as pas dit plus tôt?!” (Franky speaks English? Why didn’t you tell me before?!) You asked, absolutely ecstatic that someone that was part of the crew knew one of your native languages. Sanji flinched a bit at your sudden increase in volume before chuckling.
“Pourquoi? Ne suis-je pas amusant à qui parler?” (Why? Am I not fun to talk to?) He asked with an amused expression.
“N-Non!” (N-No!)