Chapter Text
This was for the day one prompt: kiss.
Morning Kiss
Sanji went out for a smoke early that morning, emerging out on the deck in the predawn light. He sucked in the crisp spring air before popping a cigarette into his mouth and listening to the waves lap up the sides of the Thousand Sunny. The sky was a light lavender, signaling it was early, even for Sanji, who was normally an early riser in his own right. He shuffled to the edge of the ship and leaned against the railing, watching as his cigarette smoke lazily drifted up and away. His mind likewise drifted. It would be a calm day, he surmised, but anything could happen out here on the Grand Line, and he didn’t have Nami’s skills when it came to predicting the weather.
At the thought of Nami, his eyes shifted from the sunrise to the tangerine grove at the back of the ship and he was brought back to why he got up at the crack of dawn to begin with this morning. The Straw Hat crew was only a day or two away from their last landfall, but Sanji wanted to use up some of the fresh fruit he had bought before he needed to dry and freeze the rest. Franky had made sure the refrigerator and dehydrator in the kitchen were top of the line, but nothing beat the complexities and luxury of truly freshly-picked fruit. He was sure the girls would delight at the delicate parfaits, poached pears and tangerine compote drizzled over warm croissants he had planned for breakfast that morning. Brook would probably enjoy them too, and maybe Chopper, if he covered some in powdered sugar. As for the rest of the crew, well, Sanji didn’t have high hopes they cared about what they shoved into their gaping maws as long as it was edible. He didn’t really mind if they cared or not, or at least that’s what he told himself. They weren’t the ones he was trying to impress.
The blonde cook made his way up the stairs to Nami’s grove before flicking his cigarette overboard. He rolled up the sleeves of his wrinkled button-up, slept in from the day before. It wasn’t always his first choice to sleep in his clothes, but after long nights washing dishes, (or making sure those banished to dishwashing duty didn’t manhandle things) prepping for meals the next day, and then getting up early the next morning, there were times when he was just too exhausted to change before falling into his bunk. He’d change into a fresh shirt before the others woke up anyway.
Standing in the midst of the tangerine trees, Sanji smiled and sighed. The scent of foliage and citrus was a nice reprise when out at sea for countless days. And, of course, he was reminded of Nami whenever he came close to the grove. Even better were those small moments he got to enjoy spending with Nami when she asked him to help her prune the trees. He rubbed a green leaf between his fingers at the memories.
Some, if not most people believed him to be a perverted womanizer. While he admitted to often having impure thoughts, his code of chivalry would never allow him to act upon them. And his love of women… well, he couldn’t help but express his deep passion of their beauty and grace. And if he didn’t exclaim his appreciation to the world… who would? The fire in his heart wouldn’t allow it to be stifled.
But at the center of those flames lay only one woman, the one who engulfed him entirely in her spirit. He was compelled to show his appreciation of the fairer sex, but it was Nami who he loved more than anything else. Any time he spent with her was precious to him, nearly as much as the All Blue.
Sanji moved around the trees, inspecting each fruit for ripeness. At last he found one, and easily plucked it from its branch. It was firm, but relented to a light squeeze. A dirty thought relating to a particular part of Nami’s anatomy ran through his mind, but before his nose could explode with blood he shook the thought away. He could always count on his libido to ruin a perfectly romantic reverie (not that he ever wanted to count on it…)
Instead, Sanji brought the tangerine to his nose and inhaled. The scent was sweet and bright: unmistakably Nami. As much as she constantly rejected his advances or got angry when he was too forward, Sanji felt an irresistible pull to her. Even through all of her rage and violence, there were those times when she would smile and even laugh with him, times when she would sit with him in the galley after dinner. There she would write the log for the day while he cleaned up or jotted down meal plans. Those moments may have been uneventful, but they were easy and comfortable. Those were the moments when Sanji felt closest to Nami. Those were the moments that gave him hope.
Perhaps she didn’t want to push him away as much as she tried to act like it?
Sanji moved the tangerine down to his lips and lightly pressed them to the flesh of the fruit. If those moments are what bring him and Nami together, if this is as close as he’ll get to kissing her for now, well, it will have to do. Sanji lowered the tangerine and looked out at the now orange and pink sunrise. He was a patient and persistent man.