One Piece 1. Onigiri - Prologue

ONIGIRI

Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece or any of its characters.

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><p>It was another sunny day of a hot summer that made Sanji rethink the reasons why he choose to be a cook. While blocking out the noises of people eating their lunch and chatting with each other, he imagined himself lying on a sun lounger on one of the overcrowded beaches of Miami, framed by skyscrapers and filled with lovely ladies in bikinis getting a tan.<p>

But cooking was his passion, it was what was keeping him alive and had kept him alive since the old geezer had found and adopted him.

However, maybe he could convince Nami or Robin to spend a day at the beach with him next weekend. But the daydream of him playing beach volleyball with the two busty girls was crashed when a black-haired figure smashed himself in the sand beneath him and let the ball fly to the other end of the field. He had forgotten that now that Nami and Luffy were a couple she probably wanted him to come, too. And clearly Robin would love to bring Franky, which would leave him as the fifth wheel again. He sighed loudly.

"Hey Blondie! Wanna stand there all day staring into space or are you here to work?!" Sanji was abruptly ripped out of his thoughts when Patty lectured him harshly.

The cook only looked at the waiter and part-time cook dumbfounded until the other man raised his voice again. "There's an unusual order from table 5. The guy wants something called Onigiri, whatever the hell that is."

"It's Japanese rice balls, you uncultured swine. But it's not on the menu."

"I told him the same but he said that every decent soup kitchen chef should be able to make them and that if you wouldn't be able to, it would only prove that you are only a "low-rated kitchen helper"", answered Patty a little bit annoyed.

"He said what?! I will show this guy who is a "low-rated kitchen helper"!", Sanji stormed out of the kitchen struggling on his way through the restaurant which was crowded with people that were all happily consuming the tasty dishes he and the other chefs had made for them.

Stopping in front of table 5, he took a look at the green-haired man sitting behind it before addressing him. The tanned man had a muscular frame and was wearing a white shirt, black pants and a strange looking green piece of cloth around his hip.

"The food you wish is not on the menu and if you ever call me a low-rated cook again, I will swipe the floor of this dining hall with your ass!"

Although he expected it, the tanned man didn't react shocked on his outburst at all.

"I thought the customer is the king at this place, curly-brow.", the man said while pointing his thumb over his shoulder towards a framed cross-stitch work hanging on the wall at the other side of the room.

"What did you call me?!", Sanji yelled at him while people were beginning to turn their heads in their direction. "You should be lucky to be allowed to sit here with that stupid looking moss-head of yours!"

He had never really cared about that sign anyway. If a customer treated him with the respect he expected, he treated him back equally. And if a customer was unfriendly as fuck and would irritate him endlessly he would kick him out of the restaurant. Easy as that.

"Calm down, eggplant! Your temper will kill you one day!", his old man stated when he approached him from behind and gave him a blow to the back of his head.

"Oi! Stop doing that old breezer, I'm not a child that needs to be disciplined!"

"But I will do it again if you don't stop treating our precious customers like that! Now apologise and bring him the dish he ordered!"

"Na, I think it won't be good anyway.", the nearly forgotten customer said while starting to get up and leave.

"Oh no!", Sanji stated and pushed him back into his seat by pressing the other man's shoulders down. "The food I cook is delicious and you will eat it if you want it or not!", Sanji exclaimed and turned around.

The muscular man looked after the lean blond when he made his way back to the kitchen.

"Can I get you something to drink while you wait for your food?", the waiter that took his first order asked him.

"A glass of water would be nice.", he told him irritated.

Arriving in the kitchen, Sanji began to open and close numerous cupboards before finding what he was looking for. "Ahhh, there it is.", he said before standing up and filling rice and water into the traditional rice cooker he had just taken out.

While waiting for the rice to cook, he gathered the other ingredients he needed. He went to the storage room and got some strips of dried nori seaweed and black sesame seeds. After that he went to the walk-in refrigerator and looked for a piece of salmon he could use as a filling for half of the rice balls. He would just make the other half with sesame seeds, he decided.

After producing a pan from the cupboards, he put a bit of oil in it and waited for it to start sizzling before he added the salmon. The chef waited for the one side to turn into a crispy brown before turning it over. When the other side was well too, he gathered a knife and a cutting board to slice the perfectly grilled fish into pieces that would fit into the onigiri.

Looking after the rice, he saw that is was ready and quickly washed and wetted his hands before rubbing some salt on it and placing some steamed rice on his hand. Taking a piece of salmon, he pushed it into the rice lightly before holding it between is palms and carefully forming a triangle. Last, he got a strip of the seaweed and wrapped it around the rice ball. He laid the masterpiece on a plate that one of the other cooks had prepared for him with thin lines of soy sauce, in which the rice balls could be dipped in. He repeated this process with four more balls of rice before forming 5 balls leaving out the salmon and sprinkling them with the black sesame seeds instead.

He felt a bit proud when he viewed the plate and was happy that it had turned out so well. Raising the plate on his hand, he began his way towards the strange but attractive customer with a smug grin on his face.

"_I bet he will like it._", he thought.

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><p>AN: There it is! You should all know that this is my first fanfiction and that I'm very proud of it :3. Please bear with me because English is not my mother language and if you review (which I hope you do to help me improve my writing), do not hesitate to add any grammtical or lexical errors!


	2. Getting to know you - Chapter 1

GETTING TO KNOW YOU

Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece or any of its characters. They all belong to the wonderful Eiichiro Oda.

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><p>"I hope you don't mind.", Sanji said while he got rid of his cooking clothing and sat down facing the unusual customer whom he had made the Onigiri for. He had brought a bowl of the special of the day for himself and placed a white napkin on his lap so his black suit pants wouldn't be spoiled if he spilled anything. He somehow found that there was something interesting about the tall, green-haired man and hence had decided to keep him company during his lunch break.<p>

"Ehm, no.", said man replied a little confused. He wasn't displeased with the blonde man sitting at the table with him but he slightly wondered what he wanted.

Now that the previously furious man was sitting in front of him he had time to get a better look. The man's blond bangs were hiding one side of his face including his left eye. The visible side showed a strangely formed curled brow which left a smile on his lips.

"_How can anybody have such ridiculous eyebrows?"_, he thought while noticing the clothes of the cook. He was wearing a white shirt with the top two buttons left open and his chef clothing was laid over the back of the chair. Averting his gaze back to his food again he hoped he hadn't been caught staring. He wouldn't admit it out loud but the man looked pretty handsome.

"_Wait, what am I thinking? Handsome? A guy?"_, he had to suppress the urge to face-palm himself for thinking about somebody he barely knows, practically a stranger, _a male stranger, _as attractive. To cover up he hastily loaded one of the Onigiris into his mouth.

"Tell me why you insisted on the Onigiri.", Sanji asked the man who was currently stuffing rice balls into his mouth like he possessed no table manners. "And don't eat like a pig, there are other people here who want to actually enjoy their meal."

"Don't tell me how wo eat my food, stupid cook.", the tanned man spat back a little bit taken aback about the question. He had to confess that the man wasn't a stupid cook at all.

"_These have to be tastiest I have ever eaten", _the man thought closing his eyes savouring the flavour.

"Oi, don't call me that! I have a name. It's Sanji. Sanji Black.", the blonde stated while holding his hand out.

"I'm Zoro Roronoa.", the man shook the offered hand. "And I especially like Onigiri because it is my favourite food. I ate it a lot during my stay in Japan.", he added asking himself whether he was giving out too much information about himself.

"What did you do there?", the cook was really interested in the story of the man. He seemed mysterious in some way with his bizarre hair and the serious look on his face. He also noticed that he was wearing three golden earrings.

Not that he was _sexually _interested. He was pretty sure he was straight as a ruler and his heart was completely devoted to the ladies. But nonetheless, he couldn't deny that the man had something special about him.

"After high school I went there to improve my sword fighting skills and also learned a few traditional Japanese martial arts.", Zoro ate another rice ball by letting it disappear into his mouth.

He remembered when he first entered a dojo in Japan. He was confronted with many new techniques that he had never heard of and that he had no knowledge about. During his stay he had trained all of them and nearly perfected some of them, too.

"Really? I also do martial arts! You ever heard of savate?", Sanji questioned the man in front of him excitedly. He noticed that he had slowed down his eating a bit after his insult.

"No, but it already sounds lame.", he answered with a grin. Zoro couldn't believe that something that sounded so weird could be considered a real form of fighting. At least not as long as Sanji pronounced it like that.

"It isn't lame! It is a French form of kick-boxing where the fighters are allowed to wear light shoes while sparring." Sanji defended his sport angrily before raising a spoon full of the delicious stew he had made this morning to his mouth.

Zeff had taught him everything he knew about martial arts and hand-to-hand combat. After a nearly fatal encounter with a knife in his early years as a kitchen helper Zeff had bewared him of (Carne had provoked him and he ran at him not noticing the kitchen knife he was holding before Zeff had seized him by the collar and stopped his rendezvous with the weapon at the last second), he had realised how important his hands were for him and his future as a chef.

From that point in his past he had learned to control his anger and to fight with his legs and feet instead of his hands.

"Why did you come back? Was your training finished?", he asked after swallowing a spoonful of the pomegranate and chicken stew.

"No, not yet. But I was offered a job at a local kendo centre and, therefore, I came back.", Zoro explained to Sanji. He would have really liked to stay at Japan a little bit longer but the master who provided him the job in Miami had always been one of his idols. He just couldn't refuse it and throw away the chance to improve his skills.

"But you don't know anybody here, do you? Why did you want to leave?", Sanji quizzed him even more.

"Actually, I grew up in this town and went to school here. Although I lost touch with mostly everybody, I still have a few friends here.", the green-haired man lied. The truth was that he never had many friends when he went to school. He was neither a good student nor really sociable.

"More time in Japan would have given me routine but I wasn't able to enhance my skills anymore. The sensei at this centre will help me to achieve this goal.", Zoro noticed that talking with Sanji wasn't awkward or displeasing at all. He truly enjoyed the company.

Maybe it was because he always looked a bit grumpy and slightly pissed off but he wasn't good in making new friends. Therefore, he was glad if somebody took the initiative and talked to him.

"Have you found an apartment yet? I have heard that the housing market has become expensive in the last few months.", Sanji told Zoro.

"Yeah, I already found out.", the muscular man sighed loudly while settling back. "At the moment I am staying at a friend's house. Well, actually it is his grandfather's house but it doesn't matter to me as long as I can sleep there until I have found a place of my own." He had never really minded where he slept as long as he had a roof over his head.

Sanji considered the man with a long look. Just when Zoro was about to open his mouth to ask Sanji whether there was something of the food left on his face, he raised his voice.

"Then I wish you good luck.", the blonde man said while he looked on his watch and began rising from his chair, "My break is over and I have to start working again. Maybe you could come by again with a special order of Japanese food that will challenge my cooking skills." Sanji smirked. Zoro only nodded before the man gathered his chef clothing as well as the used bowl and turned around to leave the dining hall to enter the kitchen.

Zoro was actually a bit sad about the chef's sudden leaving. It had been easy to speak with Sanji and he had the feeling that he may had found a new friend.

After waving the waiter that had served him, he paid the bill and left the restaurant. Standing in front of it and looking at the cars that were rushing down the street he wondered what direction Ace grandfather's house had been again and whether the firefighter would have time to give him a ride on his motorcycle so he wouldn't have to wander around the city for hours before he found it.

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><p>Okaaaaaaay, how did you like it? Please leave a review and again don't hesitate to add grammatical or lexical errors. I tried to change the form of the narrator, so how do you think about it? Was it confusing? Please let me know!<p>

Also you may have noticed that I decided to extend this one shot to a complete story (Thanks to mks 12 98 again!). I'm not really sure yet how many chapters there will be at the end so be surprised! This chapter serves as a transition between the one shot from Sanji's POV and the actual story. I hope it wasn't too much talking and wasn't boring or one-sided.

So stay tuned and pray that I will find time to write! :)


	3. Preparations - Chapter 2

PREPARATIONS

A/N: I couldn't fit a proper description of my idea of the Baratie into this chapter and my drawing is just too shitty… So I will try to describe it and you have to keep it in mind while reading. Also, I split the chapter because I'm still not content with the second part but wanted to update anyway.

My Baratie has the form of a square but because the kitchen occupies the top left corner, the dining hall is only formed like the letter L (with broader, equally lines and turned 90° left). If you enter (the door is in the bottom left corner), there are booths lining the wall on the right side, the wall on the left side (which passes into the opposite wall) is lined by a bench with tables and chairs in front of it. There is an aquarium at the last free wall, opposite to it is the entrance to the kitchen. Next to the aquarium is an archway that leads to a separate room which contains a bar that can be entered individually from the outside (street). The last important thing is a round table which can fit 8 people that stands nearly in the corner of the L in front of the aquarium.

I hope it helped more than it confused you and now: have fun!

Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece or any of its 25946218 characters.

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><p>Holding his usual cup of coffee to go from the small café next to his stepfather's restaurant, Sanji entered the Baratie and instantly noticed that something had changed.<p>

First of all, all waiters seemed to be on time. Secondly, they weren't sitting at a table chatting but decorating the dining room. Normally, the waiters took their sweet time starting work. In the end they were always rushing through to finish sweeping the floor as well as setting the tables before they rashly changed into their waiter's aprons in the very nick of time.

However, now they were pushing the tables in the centre of the dining room together covering them with white table clothes. Every table got a vase with flowers and plates and silverware was set down at one end of the now very long table.

When he saw the silver paper streamers hanging on the lamps and the balloons floating around he still couldn't figure out what was happening. Going into the restaurant further, he noticed that the big table in front of the aquarium had disappeared and been replaced with a small round platform.

"_Shit. The concert.", _Brooke was going to perform at the Baratie this night. He had met the black man with a big afro during one of his stays in New York. The soul musician had been playing in a bar he had gone to and gotten a drink. After the gig he had sat himself at the bar too and he and Sanji had eventually started talking. He and Brooke had immediately talked the same language and had spent the rest of the night drinking and looking for some nice ladies. Since then they had hold contact and today was already the third time the singer played at the Baratie.

To make the upcoming night even better, he had invited almost _all_ of his friends. Not only Nami, Ruffy, Robin and Franky had promised to come but also Usopp and Ace.

"_I better start working…"_, Sanji thought. A show at the Baratie meant a lot of work for everybody. The waiters had to decorated everything, the cooks had to prepare the buffet they were going to serve the night and even Zeff wouldn't have spare time because he had to manage the fluent procedure and probably would have to clear up some drunken's fight or two.

Sanji already mentally put up a to-do list while entering the kitchen. He found Carne and Patty preparing various dishes and ordering around the kitchen helpers.

Putting on an apron before washing his hands, he started cutting vegetables that were partly for the soup he had to cook and partly garnish for the main dishes. He washed the carrots and potatoes before skinning them. The carrots became slices and half of the potatoes became cubes. He peeled an onion and sliced it into even tinier pieces than the potatoes. After adding half of the carrots, the potatoes and the onion to the stock that Patty had luckily made for him in the morning, he put a lid on the pot.

In the pantry he found peas that he began to shell and after that began to cook in separated pots with the second half of the carrot slices. He put the potatoes he left whole in another pot, filled in water and made sure he wouldn't have to look after them for a while.

"I'm going to take a break.", he announced to the other cooks and left the kitchen through the back door. He sat down on one of the metal chairs that were there for him and the other cooks to provide their feet a break when they smoked or just took a break.

Sanji lit himself a cigarette and put it between his lips. He swung his legs onto one of the unoccupied chairs and sighed. Looking around the backyard, his eyes rested on a plant next to the backdoor. It had a moss-like texture and a round shape and it immediately reminded him of Zoro.

He had contemplated a lot more about the strange customer the last few days than he wanted to admit. Maybe it was because he _insisted_ on the traditional Japanese dish what made him thinking about him. He liked the challenge it gave him to prepare and perfect the Onigiri and he was still happy that it had hit Zoro's spot. Therefore, he had hoped the green-haired man would show up again, but although he had virtually invited him over to the Baratie again, he hadn't shown up yet.

Also, he was eager to learn more about the man's fighting skills to maybe improve his own. Because the last months had been very stressful, he had barely found time to practice with Zeff or with anyone else. The centre he usually trained at had had to close a few weeks ago because of a lack of members, so there hadn't been a possibility for him to train.

The meeting with the swordsman had given him hope that he had found someone with whom he could work off all his stress not only in training but maybe also doing a pub tour.

He took a drag of his smoke. He had thought that he and the muscular man could have become friends. He had seemed shy at first, but had opened up during their conversation. Nevertheless, it still wasn't too late for the sword-fighter to show up.

Focusing on the evening and getting Zoro out of his thoughts, Sanji stubbed out his cigarette in the ash tray and stood up to finish preparing the food for the night.

xxXxx

Throwing down his gym bag in the hallway, Zoro entered his apartment and stretched.

He had begun working at Mihawks' Kendo centre nearly a week ago and taken additional classes with Mihawk every day after work because it had been a condition of the employment agreement. It helped him achieving his goal to compete at international competitions and certainly improved his skills. Master Mihawk had a lot of experience he still had to gain and that's why he welcomed the training lessons.

The downside to this was that he had been tired and his muscles had been sore the whole week. Every evening he had arrived at his flat, he had pulled something unhealthy out of the fridge, put it into the microwave, gulped down a beer while it warmed up and then eaten it before dropping onto his bed falling asleep the moment his head had hit the mattress.

But today was Friday and he hadn't had a lesson after work and had been able to get home early. His stomach growled and he thought about the tasty Onigiri he had eaten at this fancy restaurant the day before he had started working.

He had to admit that he hadn't found the restaurant again and didn't even recall the name of it. The dish had been so good and he had actually enjoyed the conversation with the man, Sanji. He had been mad at himself for his missing sense of direction for the last few days. He had asked himself whether the blond was maybe able to cook even more traditional Japanese dishes. Besides, the man had seemed interested in his fighting skills and stated that he did martial arts, too. He had been looking for a sparring partner since he had come into town and Sanji seemed to be a suiting one. He had to remember himself to ask him if he ever saw him again.

The only thing he had been excited about today was that Ace had asked him to go to a concert of a soul musician. His brother, Luffy, and a few others he didn't know yet would also be there.

In pleasant anticipation of good booze this night, he got rid of his clothes and hopped under the shower.

Exiting a few minutes later, he stepped on his bath rug and began to wipe himself dry with a dark towel when soft grey fur lightly brushed his calves. He looked down and saw that Whiskas, his new cat, he had gotten from the animal shelter two days ago, had slipped into the bathroom and was now licking the tiny drops of water from his legs.

In Japan, he had always shared his apartment with somebody else because he hadn't had the money to afford one on his own. Spending the previous week furnishing the rooms, he had felt a bit lonely and decided to get company.

When he had entered the shelter, a cat with grey and black fur jumped from a shelf and apparently had decided to claim its owner at this exact moment. Zoro immediately had liked her and taken her home. She now owned a pillow in his living room and had already begun to scrape the wallpaper.

She still followed him when he entered his bedroom but curled into a ball on his big bed.

Clueless, he stood in front of his dresser. Zoro took care of looking decent but saw fashion as nothing else as clothes you wore. He therefore decided to go with a black jeans and a dark grey long sleeve with a few buttons of which he left the two top ones open.

In the bathroom again, he combed through his thick green hair before he brushed his teeth and lastly took a look in the mirror. Coming to the decision that it was ok to leave the house dressed that way, he peeked at his phone and saw that Ace had send him a text message 15 minutes ago: **Are leaving now, will be there in 20 minutes.**

Concluding that they would be there any minute now, he filled Whiskas' bowl with cat's food and gathered his phone, wallet and keys. Stuffing everything into the pockets of his jacket, he left the house and already saw Ace's car at the end of the street.


	4. The concert - Chapter 3

THE CONCERT

A/N: Sorry this has taken me so long, my semester break just started and I got really distracted by Teen Wolf... But, however, here is the foruth chapter! Reviews are, as always, highly appreciated.

Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece, it belongs to Eiichiro Oda.

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><p>Sanji had worked hard the entire morning and afternoon. Now, everything was prepared and ready to be served. Some of the other cooks had gone home to get rid of the smell of the kitchen and dress up but he had stayed and went upstairs into Zeff's flat. He still had his own room up there and kept a few clothes in his old dresser if he had to change quickly or decided to sleep at the restaurant.<p>

He took a brief shower before dressing in a simple white shirt and his favourite black suit. Looking at the mirror, he saw that his new dark red tie matched perfectly with it. He always loved the feeling of a well-tailored suit on his skin.

Unfortunately, the kitchen wasn't a place to wear one daily. The fabric would soak up the smell of roasted fish or meat and it would be ruined. Mainly, he wore dark jeans and a white shirt which had a lower quality but nonetheless fitted well while working.

Confident with his outfit he went down the stairs when Carne addressed him.

"Your friends are already there. I gave them their usual table in the corner but it could be a tight squeeze."

"Why? Normally there is enough room for everybody…" Sanji answered and wondered whether Usopp had brought his girlfriend Kaya. But Carne had already gone to the kitchen again and he couldn't ask him further.

When he left the kitchen he saw Brooke and his crew setting up their equipment on and around the small stage. He passed them to get a wine at the bar which was connected with the Baratie's dining hall but could be entered separately from outside.

With a full glass of red wine he entered the dining hall again and went to the table in the corner opposite of the entrance to the Baratie.

The sight was a familiar one because he usually invited his closest friend over once a month and cooked for them.

Ace was a firefighter and looked a lot like his younger brother, Luffy, although they were only adoptive brothers. Ace, in contrast to Luffy, was a bit taller and more muscular. He couldn't show up as often as he wanted but if he was present, he often got all the attention. He had a very taking aura and could entertain everybody with his nature. Sanji had spent a year in France while he was in school and Ace, who went to England, had been in his preparatory course. Although they did not go to the same school, they had shared an agency.

Luffy, a black-haired lean guy, was currently going to college taking courses to become a motivational speaker. He could eat like a horse and Sanji always had problems to refill his plate when he was over. Since half a year, he and Nami, a ginger girl with a gift for geography, were a thing. In high school, Nami had often been jealous of her classmates because her family wasn't as rich as them. That's why she had headed for the gutter and joined the crew of Arlong, a local criminal, whom she helped carrying money used for drug dealing. At one point she had started to take drugs too and had become addicted. Her sister Nojiko and Luffy finally saved her nearly a year ago and since then she was recovering. She was at the same college as Luffy and was taking classes to become a teacher.

Robin, who had dark shoulder long hair, was a bit older than him, already in her late twenties and originally from Seattle. She was a historian and archaeologist and he had first laid eyes on her beautiful figure at an exposition at the local museum. Franky, to whom she was engaged to since a few weeks, was an engineer. They had met when she was looking for new technology for her excavations and been inseparable since then.

Usopp came from Hawaii and was studying botany and biology. He had a tanned skin, dark, curled hair and an abnormally long nose. He and Kaya, one of Sanji's regulars, were dating. Kaya was a petite blonde girl with big blue eyes and came from a very rich and prestigious family. She and Usopp therefore had a hard time convincing their parents that an overall-wearing guy with shoulder long hair was the perfect match for her.

These evenings, when they all sat together joking and talking till late into the night, were like one-day vacations for Sanji. He could just forget all the work stress that had accumulated over the last few weeks and often sat there nearly dozing off because it was so calming to have all his friends, who deeply cared for him as much as he did for them, around him.

The chef hoped that today wouldn't be an exception and had made sure that everything was ready for a nice evening. Sharing a last eye contact with Zeff, who stood at the entrance and nodded towards him, he could make sure he was dismissed for the day and faced his friends at the table.

"Hello my beautiful Nami and gorgeous Robin!" He greeted the two ladies before turning to the rest of his friends. "And evening, losers."

He took the last free seat, a chair next to Usopp and opposite of Ace and… Zoro?

"Zoro, what are you doing here?" Sanji asked startled while sitting down and opening his suit jacket. The others looked startled.

"You two know each other?" Ace asked confused and looked from the one man to the other.

"Yeah, we do. This is the fancy restaurant I told you about. Where I ate the Onigiri." Zoro addressed Ace, taking a sip of his beer.

"The one you couldn't find again because it suddenly "changed places"?" The freckled firefighter mocked him, giving him a knowing look.

Zoro blushed lightly and averted his gaze.

_He looks a lot younger when his cheeks turn red like this, quite cute._ Sanji thought but wore a confused facial expression. "Huh? What do you mean? The Baratie is still were it was a week ago."

"Zoro has no sense of direction. He can only survive because he visits the same supermarket since he lives in this town. They invented navigation apps especially for him." Nami explained smilingly.

Sanji really had to chuckle about this.

"Oh, shut up!" Zoro responded angrily. It really made fun necking the man like this if he showed such a reaction.

"Admit it Zoro, if we hadn't taken you along, you still wouldn't be here." Ace said.

"My sense of direction isn't that bad. I make it to work every morning." Zoro defended himself. "When is the food ready anyway?"

He obviously tried to change the subject but Sanji could hear Luffy's stomach growling.

Robin took a look at her watch. "The posters said 7 p.m. And it's already 6.50 p.m., so I think we can get it any minute now. What are you saying, Sanji?"

"When I left the kitchen everything was ready." the cook answered the dark haired woman. "I think Brook will introduce himself now and then open the buffet."

Not a minute after the words had left his mouth, Zeff entered the stage and welcomed everybody at the Baratie. His adoptive father had dark blonde hair and a twirly moustache, his signature feature. Furthermore, he wore a below-knee prosthesis because of which he limped slightly. Zeff had lost part of his right leg during a car accident shortly before he had decided to adopt Sanji.

As a young boy, he had lived in an orphanage and during his daily permission to go out he had often visited Zeff's restaurant.

It had started when one day, his ball had rolled into the Baratie's backyard and he had looked into the face of Zeff sitting in the metal chair he himself had taken a smoke in today, taking a break. His messy appearance must have worried Zeff and after he had approached him he had given him something to eat because he thought that he had nearly looked "like a corpse walking with this less flesh on his rips". After this first encounter, Sanji had come regularly and Zeff even had spent time with him showing him how to cook.

After the accident Zeff had reconsidered his life. He had renovated the Baratie, which used to be more a diner than a restaurant, and adopted Sanji.

Every day, after school, Sanji had helped in the kitchen, eager to learn what he was taught. Although Zeff was very strict and the other adults had mocked and pushed him around, he had been able to cook better, faster and more economically than them before he left school.

Since he had graduated, he worked at the Baratie. Honestly, he couldn't imagine spending his life differently.

Now Sanji was 24 and had left his home 2 years ago to live in his own apartment. Since then, Zeff had aged a bit but not visible for someone who does not see him often. Sanji would not fool himself; Zeff was in his sixties and would soon retire. But even if he seemed a little bit off sometimes, he was still Sanji's pop and he deeply loved and cared for him.

The blond was abruptly ripped of his thoughts when Brook grabbed the microphone and loudly announced: "Hello ladies and gentlemen, my name is Brook and I'm here to entertain you tonight. My first song is called "Love me". Have fun!"

Zeff must have opened the buffet because Ace and Luffy had already run off while the rest of them, the ladies, Franky, Usopp, Zoro and him leisurely walked to the offered food.

The other cooks and Sanji had really outdone themselves. The whole table seemed to break under the amount of food. Salad stood in line with cold roasted vegetables, next to two big pots with soup and the garnish for the main dishes. On the warming plates, steamed salmon and sea bass was next to perfectly done steaks, fried chicken and roasted pork. The dessert, mousse au chocolate and various ice creams as well as an enormous plate with fresh fruit, looked as delicious as the rest.

When they were all seated again, Sanji addressed Zoro. "Where do you know Ace from?"

"Actually, we went to school together." The green-haired man answered.

"But Ace introduced me to nearly all his friends back then…" Sanji wondered while looking first at Luffy, Nami and Usopp and then at Ace.

Shortly after both men had come home from their stays abroad, they had met again and Sanji had become acquainted with the group. Being more or less an outsider at his own school, he had been very happy that this people had accepted him promptly.

"By the time I introduced you to them, Zoro had already been in Japan. I think you missed each other one or two weeks." The freckled man said. "But I don't think you would have liked him. Back then he was even grumpier than he is now."

"I'm not grum-"

"Famji this foof is rilly goof!" Luffy proclaimed loudly. The muscular man darted an angry glance at him. Nami and Robin only chuckled over Luffy's behaviour. Zoro still pouted but it looked like he was accustomed to Luffy interrupting him.

"You were. I was scared of you the most time." Usopp admitted before he took a big bite of his steak.

"Sorry for that." Zoro apologised half-heartedly shrugging his shoulders. It seemed like he didn't really care though.

"So have you already completely moved in?" Robin asked rolling up some spaghetti on her fork before looking at Zoro.

Observing said man, Sanji saw that he appeared a bit confused about most of the attention laying on him but answered nonetheless. "Yes, fortunately. The only thing missing is a dishwasher. I need a car to get it form the store but Ace hadn't had time to pick me up and drive me there yet."

The firefighter gave him an apologising look, hiding his eyes behind his bangs. Sanji let his eyes wander over the faces of his friends sitting at the table. Apart from Ace, only Franky, Robin and Usopp owned a car. In a big city like Miami, the fastest and cheapest way of transport was the subway or by foot. But Franky was self-employed and needed his truck the whole day, Robin's was too small and Usopp had his vehicle parked at Kaya's house in the suburbs.

"I could help you. We could take my car." Sanji offered after thinking about it.

Zoro gave him a surprised glance. "That would be nice."

After Sanji's suggestion, an unusual silence spread over the table. After a while little conversations awakened again while some others left to get a second plate of food. In the background, Brook played one song after another and the crowd obviously enjoyed the performance.

xxXxx

The night had been relaxing just like Sanji had predicted.

Their group was the last one left when Zeff approached them and said that it was already 4 a.m. and they would be closing the restaurant now. The kitchen staff gladly had to start working at 11 a.m. tomorrow, otherwise he would have had to work at 9 a.m. in the morning. After Zeff bid them goodbye, they went to the parking lots.

Sanji's had left his car, a silver Mercedes he had saved years for, at home this morning, intending to drink alcohol in the evening. The walk home would only be a short one.

Usopp had already gone home at 2 a.m. and Robin and Franky had left at 3 a.m. and taken a taxi to the engineer's place. Now, Ace loaded a very wasted Luffy and Nami into his car, while Brook held the car door open.

"It was a really cool night with you all. I'm here for one more week, maybe we should go out all together a second time?" The musician suggested.

Sanji liked the idea. "Sounds good." He turned to look at Zoro. "What about you? You're also coming?"

"I'm not sure. I have to work all week and my chef gives me additional training every day. I'm always really exhausted when I get home." The green-haired man admitted. "I will just have to get my ass up for once after work, so I will be there."

"Cool! I thought about Wednesday at Shakky's Rip-off-bar?" Brook slowly closed the door after Ace had finally loaded the drunken students in the backseat of his Land Rover.

"This would be fine for me but you know that I will have to work eventually." Ace said sharing a knowing look with Sanji and Zoro. "I will ask these two when they are sober again." He looked at the pair in his car. Luffy was already snoring loudly and Nami had leaned against him and also seemed to be asleep.

"I will look whether I can convince the old geezer to give me the night off.", Sanji said to Brook and again turned to Zoro. "Looks like you have no choice."

Zoro sighed. "It should be fine anyway. I will just have to get my ass up for once after work."

"Okay, then it is set. Wednesday, 8 p.m. at Shakky's. See you there!" Brook announced before hopping into the Taxi that had waited for him during their conversation.

"Bye!" Sanji, Zoro and Ace waved at the man with the afro. Zoro and Ace said good bye too and after they had rushed off, Sanji began to walk home, his comfortable bed already in his mind.


End file.
