Chapter Text
It happens like it always does.
They were sailing in-between islands, days from actually hitting land. But of course, nothing can stay calm for long when you’re a Strawhat.
He was in the galley when cannon fire went off and the Sunny shook, barely saving one of the dishes from hitting the floor. Immediately, Sanji was ticked off.
If Luffy set off the cannon by accident again…
Sanji set down what he was doing, already running through the consequences he’d threaten Luffy with; the worst one being that he’d deny Luffy’s first mid-afternoon snack of the day. He rushed out of the galley, the door swinging open.
“That’s it, Luffy!” Sanji yelled, spatula in hand. The rest of the crewmembers were already gathered onto the deck, barely glancing at the cook who was still donning his kiss the chef apron. He waved the spatula in Luffy’s general direction, who was staring off towards the water with his signature smile. About to chide Luffy, he paused once he got a look of the ship Luffy and the rest of the crew had their eyes on. On it, a smoking cannon.
Ah. Well he’d been wrong before.
Grumbling, he came to stand by everyone else, crossing his arms. “Who fired first?” He asked flatly. Robin answered with a smile.
“Surprisingly, them. Although,” she added, tapping her chin thoughtfully. “I do believe a stretchy man waving frantically at them could be viewed as a threat.” She looked pointedly at Luffy, who was still smiling.
Usopp leaned over now, looking worried.
“They have good aim,” he said. “With the distance they’re at, combined with the wind, they shouldn’t have gotten as close as they did.” Usopp wrung his fingers nervously. “I-I don’t think they were trying to hit us either. A warning?”
Sanji pointed the spatula at Usopp. “Surely it can’t be that g-” A shot fired, directed to the newly arrived cook. Or, the object he was holding at least. For a moment, all he could do was stare in slight shock.
“That was my favorite one,” Sanji mumbled mournfully, staring at the now mutilated, smoking spatula.
A warning shot.
The ship reached them rather quickly, the occupants on it coming into view. There was a full crew on deck, waving swords and calling out boisterously. The jolly roger of the ship was… surprisingly simple. Just a regular skull, but was a lot rounder and softer-looking than normal jolly rogers.
The whole crew looked at the approaching ship, bored, sans Luffy who was practically bouncing up and down.
“Do you think they’re strong?!” He asked eagerly.
Best for him to get all of his excitement out now, Sanji thought wryly. Before dinner.
“I’m not sure,” Robin said with a smile. The other pirate crew was in fighting distance now, cannon aimed at the Strawhats. “Time to find out?”
Luffy let out an affirmative yell and…
“Hey!” “Wha- Luffy!” “Get your ass back here!”
…Launched himself to the ship in a speedy blur.
Groaning, the rest of the Strawhats got into fighting stances.
***
They had made quick work of the want-to-be pirate crew with the bland jolly roger. Luffy was especially disappointed after fighting the captain (and she was absolutely gorgeous, Sanji noticed), but quickly perked back up when Sanji announced dinner was nearly ready.
Franky was about to steer the Sunny away from the other beat-up ship, but everyone turned to look back as maniacal laughter burst from the injured captain.
“Gy-ack- ack- ack!” she laughed. “Y-you think that’s it? I-I’m not done with you yet!” She was standing shakily on her two legs, cradling an injured arm and very much unable to keep fighting. What she was doing wasn’t very smart on her part considering the strawhats had left her ship in a well-enough condition to make it back to land. What she was doing was very deliberate.
“I- I-” Suddenly, the captain's eyes widened comically and her whole demeanor shifted. “I...I’m so sorry!” She called, a huge fake smile splitting across her lips. The whole crew paused at the unexpected apology. “I was so mistaken- uh. Here!” She brought her hand in front of her, and out of thin air, conjured an item. “I want to give you this to apologize,” she called. “It’s… a treat! Please! Take it!” Luffy, not hesitating for a second, stretched out his arm to the other ship and gladly snatched the object.
“Oooo! Thanks!” He said cheerfully. He opened his mouth and-
“No you idiot!” Nami screeched, shoving the powdery confection from Luffy’s hands. “You don’t just eat magically conjured food from someone who was trying to kill you five minutes ago!” There was a disappointed awww from Luffy as Sanji, who was standing next to the two of them, picked up the fallen sweet and studied it.
The injured captain seemed to panic, moving her gaze to Sanji.
“You!” She called. Sanji turned his attention to her, face lighting up affectionately.
“Me?” He asked hopefully and pointed to himself.
“Yes! You eat it!”
Well. He couldn’t let it go to waste, and a beautiful lady was asking him. He couldn’t just say no!
“Okay!” Sanji crooned, and popped the small sweet into his mouth. Very bitter, he noticed immediately. It goes completely against the smell… How does it do that?
Everyone stopped, jaws dropping. Silence stretched out, even the waves of the ocean quietening. The first to move was Nami, who muttered “Why am I not surprised?”
Chaos erupted at once, mainly a screaming Chopper and a laughing Luffy.
“W-wait what? You actually did it?” The captain seemed completely astonished, as if she didn’t actually expect anything to come out of a very obvious final effort to defeat the infamous Strawhat Pirates.
“Noooo,” Chopper cried, making his way over to Sanji. “Why did you do that?”
Sanji blinked, as if finally realizing what he did. Oh.
“Sorry,” Sanji said shyly once Chopper approached Sanji and hugged his legs, crying. “It’s okay- I feel fine?” This did not comfort Chopper, who only cried harder.
“This is a new level of idiocy,” Zoro muttered. Sanji’s gaze immediately snapped to Zoro, glaring.
“Hah? You got somethin’ to say to my face?”
“Nothing I can say in front of Chopper,” Zoro responded smugly.
Robin smiled threateningly at Zoro, saying, “Wise choice.”
Franky, apparently done with the whole exchange, started directing the Sunny away from the defeated pirates. They sailed away from the cackling (and coughing) female pirate captain, Sanji and Zoro still bickering.
Once they had gotten far enough away, Chopper managed to get Sanji into the infirmary after threatening him with Heavy-Point.
“I don’t see anything wrong…” Chopper was saying hesitantly.
“Great!” Sanji exclaimed, standing up and clapping his hands. “I’ll be finishing dinner then-”
“No!” Chopper yelled. Sanji sat down. “You need to understand that just because I can’t see anything right now, that doesn’t mean something could happen later.” Chopper narrowed his eyes. “You of all people should know that.” Sanji sighed, because unfortunately he did.
“Yeah yeah, if I start to feel itchy or nauseous you’ll be the first to know, promise.” Sanji smiled brightly in an attempt to reassure Chopper, but he wasn’t totally certain it worked. He was studied carefully as he left the infirmary, squirming uncomfortably.
Once Sanji got to the galley, the rest of the night went smoothly. Dinner was as chaotic as usual, as if the fight earlier hadn’t happened. Everyone, including Sanji, soon forgot about it completely.
He slept peacefully that night.
***
“Oh, um. Wow Sanji… you uh- you’re…”
Sanji glared at a stuttering Usopp, who was the first to awaken that morning.
“What is it?” Sanji asked flatly. “Spit it out.”
“H-have you really not looked into a mirror?” Sanji frowned at that. He had gotten up earlier than usual that morning, not taking the care he normally did before preparing breakfast for the crew. He supposed it had just slipped his mind.
“No? Should I have?” Sanji blanched, a sudden thought coming to mind. “Do I have bad hair? Shit-” Sanji was about to rush out of the kitchen- he couldn’t have his hair looking bad for the ladies!
“No no, it’s fine!” Usopp held out his hands to stop him from leaving the kitchen. Sanji looked at him questioningly, becoming very confused. “It’s not… bad. It’s just… you look very- um. Spry?”
“Spry?”
“Y-yeah! Like… well maybe you should actually go look in a mirror.” Sanji moved past Usopp, vaguely aware he was being followed to the restroom. Coming up to the mirror, Sanji paused.
He looked different. It was barely noticeable, but it was still there nonetheless. It took Sanji a long time to figure out what it was, but once he did it was unmistakable.
He was… younger.
The bags under his eyes were not nearly as deep as they had been yesterday, and his goatee was less full even though he hadn’t shaved the night before. His hair was straighter and shorter, a lot closer to the way he styled it back on the baratie.
In short, he didn’t look nineteen anymore.
“That’s so weird…” Usopp mumbled from behind Sanji. Sanji looked at him through the mirror.
“It’s not that noticable… right?” Sanji asked nervously.
“I think you need to be more worried about why it happened,” Usopp said numbly. “You didn’t put on any… like, super-face beauty products or anything, did you? Because you seriously look like you’ve gotten younger. I guess it’s a good thing? Hey! You think Nami would pay us if we gave her whatever it is you used? We should-”
Sanji held his hand up to stop Usopp’s rambling. “Let’s just… not mention anything and see if it goes unnoticed, okay?”
Usopp nodded skeptically, not believing it would work for a second. They both walked back to the galley silently.
***
It was noticed immediately.
The second people started walking into the galley, they stared at Sanji as if trying to solve a puzzle with their eyes. The only one to say something was Franky.
“Dang cook-bro! Those facial products that you and the girls use are really working! That’s super!”
Sanji chuckled nervously. “Y-yeah…”
Breakfast moved on, but both Robin and Chopper continued giving him looks throughout the meal. Once the food was eaten and the dishes were done, everyone left except for the both of them.
“Would you like help with the dishes, cook-san?” Robin asked sweetly.
“No no, that’s alright!” Sanji gushed, hearts in his eyes. “You don’t have to exert yourself, dear R-” Sanji paused. What. Who was… R? Ro.. Raven?
Sanji stopped moving, completely frozen. His mind was drawing a complete blank, trying to recall the name of the beautiful woman in front of him. The other two occupants of the room noticed his pause.
“Sanji?” Chopper asked. Sanji looked at him, trying not to show the horror he was feeling.
“S-sorry, I’ve got to go.”
On his way out of the galley, he could feel two pairs of eyes on him.
How could he forget? He knew her… but he didn’t. Luffy, mosshead, Nami, Usopp, Chopper… that’s it. But he served eight meals (not including himself) this morning. Who was he missing? Sanji was turning around a corner when he ran smack-dab into a very large man with light-blue hair.
“Woah, cook-bro, you good? Haha, almost dropped everything!” He motioned to the wood in his hands as Sanji stared at him.
Who is that?!
Sanji could vaguely remember the man at breakfast… but he didn’t know who he was.
Sanji dashed past the loud man and continued down the interior of the… Merry? But this wasn’t what the Merry looked like! He got lost quickly, wandering like the stupid resident mossball.
Growing frustrated, Sanji took two more turns until he finally landed himself outside. Sanji shielded his eyes from the sun as he stepped outside, trying to find a familiar face.
Nami.
Sanji let out a breath of relief as he saw someone he knew and rushed over.
“Nami-swan!” He called, coming over to her side. She currently held a basket against her hip, picking ripe tangerines from a grove of trees. Nami looked at him, smiling sweetly.
“Oh Sanji-kun! Help me pick some tangerines, would you?”
“O-oh, well, yes I’d love to but… I think there might be intruders on Merr- the ship? On the ship.” Nami stopped picking the fruit, looking at Sanji with an eyebrow raised.
“You don’t sound certain. How would that even happen? We’ve been out at sea for-”
“There’s at least two!” Sanji said, internally cursing at himself for interrupting Nami. “A blue-haired man… and a lovely raven-haired lady…” Now that Sanji thought about it, there was even a- a reindeer on the ship too! He said as much. Nami’s eyebrows furrowed now.
“Is this a joke?” She asked. “Because it’s not very funny.”
Before Sanji could explain that, no, he was not joking, Usopp joined their conversation.
“What’s going on?” He asked. “Sanji isn’t being weird, is he? Chopper told me to find him ‘cause he was freaking out in the galley or something. Chopper's probably just being dramatic though, I ain’t worried.” Usopp was scratching his nose nonchalantly.
“I don’t know anymore,” Nami said, turning back to the tangerines. “He’s messing with me right now, I don’t want to deal with Sanji-weirdness at the moment.” She sighed off-handedly. “He’s pretending not to recognize Robin or Franky or Chopper.”
“Messing with… you? Do you really think he’d do that?” Nami paused at this.
“...No…”
Nami and Usopp shared a look.
“We should go get Chopper.”
“Yeah.”
***
“So you’re saying he’s… going to eventually forget even Luffy?” Nami asked worriedly.
“I’m afraid so,” Robin said quietly. After spending a hefty amount of time flipping through a devil fruit encyclopedia (which could be the only explanation for suddenly getting younger), she’d found one that required the victim to “accept” the curse, whether it be a verbal agreement or accepting something from the fruit user. Sound familiar?
Everyone was gathered in the infirmary, listening to Robin explain the fruit.
“The details are lacking… but the general idea is that he will get younger. And considering he met Luffy, Zoro, Nami and Usopp at the same time, he will forget you all at the same time too. From what I gathered, he knew everyone at breakfast but had slowly been forgetting us.” Robin glanced at Sanji. “I believe he forgot me in the middle of the conversation.” Sanji wanted to apologize, he really did. But he couldn’t find the words. What was going on?
“And he looks younger!” Usopp chimed in. Robin hummed in acknowledgement. She suddenly shut her book, looking at Sanji thoughtfully.
“In any case, he will forget everyone in this room shortly if his memory keeps disappearing at this rate.” Robin earned blank looks from everyone else. “Which means he will be completely confused with an unknown crew of pirates.” The realization hit everyone at once, worried expressions filling the room. This was not good.
“Well then he should just remember,” Luffy said unhelpfully.
“That’s not how it works,” Nami sighed.
Sanji only sat, watching the people he recognized and the ones he didn’t explain things he didn’t, couldn’t, understand.
“What do we do?” Chopper wailed. “I’ve never dealt with amnesia like this before…”
“Have him write a note to himself!” Brook offered. “I used to do it all the time back when I didn’t have a shadow! Oh, the things I did to entertain myself…”
“That’s… actually not a bad idea,” Nami murmured. She pulled out the paper she used to chart maps from her pocket, glad she had it on her. With a pen provided by Chopper, Sanji took both and looked up expectantly.
“What… should I write?”
“Just tell yourself to trust us!” Chopper said happily.
Sanji… wasn’t entirely sure he did. He was having a very difficult time believing that he was just forgetting chunks of his life as he was literally awake. But he trusted Nami-swan, so…
Everything is okay. You’re going to be confused, but you can trust the beautiful ladies on the ship. You’re the cook of the Strawhat Pirates, they’re going to help you. Listen to them.
As an afterthought, Sanji quickly scrawled down "Except the green-haired idiot," as well as hearts around "beautiful ladies."
Sanji, satisfied with the note, handed it to Nami who read over it and scoffed. She still accepted it, however, and tucked it away.
“S-Sanji,” the tiny reindeer said, shuffling towards him. “I-I’m really sorry.” Sanji frowned.
“About what?”
Something that Sanji would never be able to explain happened.
An arm, an entire arm bloomed from his shoulder, and in one quick movement, the syringe it was holding dove into his neck. Sanji gasped and stood up, feeling betrayed as he looked at the raven-haired woman who was clearly doing something if the guilty look on her face was anything to go by.
The arm disappeared and Sanji stumbled forward, the world already blinking in and out. His vision swam and his ears rang, no longer to separate lights from each other. Damn, was his last thought as he fell forward.
Sanji could hear shouting voices as he was caught by multiple arms. None, of which, were familiar.
***
Collective yells ran throughout the infirmary.
“Robin…?” Brook asked relatively calmly while everyone else was genuinely trying to understand if they were being attacked or not. Robin met his gaze calmly, and despite the noise, what she said was heard clearly throughout the room.
“Doctor’s orders.” Everyone turned to look at Chopper immediately, who squeaked with everyone’s attention.
“I- I really didn’t want to, but based on how fast he was losing his memories, it was only a matter of time before he was in a room full of strangers. I… I thought it would be best if we’re prepared when that happens.”
Even though everyone trusted Chopper’s judgement, it still left an uneasy feeling. But what could they do? They didn’t have explanations for a chef who believed he was supposed to be in a floating restaurant in the middle of the east blue. He wasn’t supposed to be on the Grand Line.
“Let’s… just get him to bed.”
“Leave him here,” Chopper said. “I want to keep an eye on him. And I do not want him near any of you when he wakes up; he won’t be desensitized to Luffy yet.”
All anyone could do was agree. And so they left, unconscious cook splayed on the infirmary bed.