Chapter 52 — The Cook's Dream
Sunny POV
The Baratie was finally calm. Mihawk was gone, Zoro lay recovering thanks to my knocking techniques, and the restaurant was slowly returning to its usual lively rhythm. The smell of frying butter and garlic wafted through the air, almost enough to cover the faint trace of blood left behind from the chaos earlier.
I leaned back in my chair, watching the crew unwind. Lucy was sprawled across the floor with her arms spread wide like she owned the whole restaurant, loudly declaring, "Food tastes better when it's FREEEEE!"
"Oi! Get off the floor, you'll scare the customers," I muttered, though I couldn't help the corner of my lips from twitching upward.
Zoro was slumped against a pillar, arms crossed, bandages fresh on his chest. His swords leaned nearby, like loyal dogs waiting for their master. Nami sat beside me at the table, sipping her drink with elegance, eyes flickering over the treasure maps she kept folded at her side.
And then, of course—
"MY ANGELS! MY GODDESSES! HERE IS YOUR MEAL!"
Sanji practically glided across the floor with two trays piled so high that the plates wobbled dangerously. He set them down in front of Lucy and Nami with all the reverence of a priest placing offerings at a shrine.
"For you, Miss Nami, a delicate orange soufflé, crafted to reflect the very sunlight that graces your hair…" Sanji announced.
Nami blinked, unimpressed. "Uh… thanks?"
"And for you, Miss Lucy—ah, forgive me, Pirate Queen Lucy-sama!—a mountain of meat, ten steaks high, and an entire roast boar. Please, accept my devotion!"
Lucy's eyes glowed like gold. "MEAT! Finally, someone who understands me!" She attacked the feast like a starved wolf, crumbs and grease flying everywhere.
I sighed. "…This is going to bankrupt him."
---
{ego}: "Unbelievable. This cook went from fighting for his life against Mihawk's aura to simping like a puppy in less than one chapter. Honestly, does he even have a brain, or is it just noodles up there? Oi, readers, are you facepalming too? Because I am."
[system]: "♥ Don't worry, Master. Sanji can simp for every girl in the world if he wants. In the end, only Nami, Aqua, and Nojiko belong to you. Anyone else is just… background noise. ♥"
---
"Oi, Curly-Brow!" Lucy said mid-bite, her mouth stuffed full. "Join my crew! Be our cook!"
Sanji froze mid-step. "…Eh?"
"You heard me," Lucy said, slamming her hands on the table, plates rattling. "You're good at cooking, you respect food, and I'm a bottomless pit. Nami says we need another chef anyway. It's perfect!"
Sanji's cigarette almost fell out of his mouth. "A-alluring Pirate Queen…! To be asked by you personally—!" He clasped his hands, tears sparkling in his eyes. "I'd love nothing more than to serve you and Miss Nami every single day—"
"—but?" I cut in.
Sanji's face twisted with conflict. "…But I can't abandon the Baratie. This place is my home. Zeff is my family. I owe him everything."
Lucy leaned across the table dramatically, pointing a greasy finger at him. "You owe ME everything if you don't keep me fed! Do you want me to DIE of starvation?!"
Nami buried her face in her hands. "…Lucy, that's not how negotiations work."
---
I leaned back, studying Sanji carefully. His eyes, though glittering with hearts every time they landed on Lucy or Nami, grew sharp when he spoke about the Baratie.
"The sea is vast," Sanji said quietly, "and one day I'll find it—the All Blue. A sea where fish from every ocean gather. The greatest ingredients in the world… all in one place." His gaze softened, almost wistful. "That's my dream. To cook with the best, for the best."
Lucy paused mid-bite, jaw hanging. "…All the fish in the world? In one sea?!"
Her eyes practically sparkled like treasure. "THAT'S BUFFET HEAVEN!!"
Sanji nearly fainted. "Exactly, my Queen!"
Nami, more practical, leaned closer. "…All Blue… if that's real, the treasure hunters and kings of the world would fight wars to control it."
I folded my arms. "So you're chasing a dream that makes you both valuable and a target."
Sanji smirked faintly. "I don't care. It's worth it."
---
{ego}: "Wow, listen to this guy. A legendary sea where all fish meet? Sure, and maybe my Master will also sprout wings and become a butterfly. Someone get this simp a reality check."
[system]: "♥ No, no, I think it's sweet! Dreams make people shine… not as much as Master, of course. No one is allowed to shine brighter than Master."
---
The conversation was cut short by a heavy thunk. Zeff had stepped into the room, wooden peg leg echoing against the floorboards. He gave Sanji a sharp glare, then turned his gaze toward us.
"I heard some interesting things," Zeff said. "So. You lot are pirates, eh? And you—" his one eye lingered on Lucy, who was currently stuffing three steaks into her mouth at once. "You want to be Pirate Queen?"
Lucy choked and thumped her chest. "Mhmph! Y-yeah! That's right! Pirate Queen Lucy, at your service!"
Zeff snorted. "Hmph. You've got spirit, I'll give you that. And you," he jabbed his crutch at Sanji, "you've got no spine. Falling over yourself for women when you've got a dream to chase. Pathetic."
Sanji bristled. "Old man—!"
"Don't talk back," Zeff snapped. "You think you'll find your All Blue standing around here drooling over girls?"
Sanji's teeth clenched, fists shaking.
Lucy blinked between them, grease still on her face. "…Wait, is this like a father scolding his kid?"
I reached over and flicked her forehead. "Shh. Not the time."
---
The tension in the air was thick. I could see Sanji's loyalty fighting with his dream, tearing him in two.
Lucy, of course, broke the silence the only way she knew how—by yelling.
"SANJIIII! IF YOU DON'T COME WITH US, I'LL STARVE TO DEATH!!"
The entire restaurant turned to stare.
Nami groaned, sinking lower into her seat. "You already said that…"
Zoro muttered from the corner, "…Kill me now."
Sanji's cigarette trembled between his fingers. His heart was on his sleeve, and I could tell this was just the beginning of the storm brewing between him and Zeff.
---
The Baratie hummed with the tired noise of people trying to return to normal. Pots clanged in a slow rhythm, waiters mopped up mountains of crumbs, and Lucy was already hunting the staff for "mysterious bonus meat." The whole place smelled of browned butter and something curiously like second chances.
Zeff's peg leg thudded as he stepped forward. The old man's voice cut the din like a cleaver. "Get out."
Sanji's face flickered — anger, loyalty, and something rawer, almost pain. He opened his mouth as if to argue, but Zeff shoved him hard enough that everyone at the next table heard the breath leave him.
Sanji's knees hit the floor.
He didn't fall because of weakness; he fell because the world he owed everything to had just given him one order: go. He lowered his gaze, hands flat on the planks, cigarette forgotten between his lips.
"Old man," he said, voice rough, "you raised me. You fed me. You saved me when I was nothing. I won't leave because it's easy. I won't leave and make you regret saving me."
Zeff spit a laugh that had equal parts scorn and something that looked dangerously like pride. "Then prove you deserve it. Go chase the All Blue. Don't die here choking on comfort."
There was a beat — one of those ridiculous, suspended movie beats where every breath suddenly mattered. Sanji's jaw trembled. He bowed his head deeper, a ritual more than a plea. "Thank you. For everything." He pressed his forehead to the floor in a quiet, broken gesture.
{ego}: (loud enough for the internet) "Oh terrific. Drama! Tears! Kneeling! Do people keep a script somewhere for these moments? Dear reader — prepare your tissues, because the lovesick cook is about to get a sequel. Also, Sanji, pick up a brain sometime, yeah?"
[system]: ♥ Master, emotional spikes detected. Sanji's loyalty is a variable of risk ♥
[system]: ♥ I will monitor him. I will record his angles. If he ever threatens to overshadow Master's plans, I will archive him permanently (metaphorically speaking). Protecting Master is optimal. ♥
Lucy, mouth still half-full of roast, watched with a stupid kind of fondness that made the room slightly warmer. "Aww," she declared, then barked like a drill sergeant, "Get up, you dramatic curly-brow! If you don't come with us, I'll starve to death and it'll be your fault."
Everyone blinked. Even Zoro, who had perfected the 'I-can't-believe-I'm-still-on-this-boat' face.
Sanji staggered up, mascaraed eyes bright with something fierce. He wiped his face with the back of his hand, brandishing a bravado that didn't quite mask the cracking voice. "You want me? You really mean it?" His gaze snapped from Lucy to Nami, and finally to the rest of our motley crew — to me, because I was staring like an idiot.
Zoro rolled his shoulders. "Don't tell me you're actually leaving us for some… buffeted-sandwich caller." He grinned a dangerous grin that was half jab, half affection.
Sanji growled back, heat in his stare. "Shut it, marimo. At least I have a dream worth burning for." He took a breath, and then, in a little voice that had no right to be so steady, he said, "If I go, it's to find the All Blue. I won't be anyone's meal ticket. I'll cook to make it happen."
{ego}: "Okay, props where props are due. The man actually said something that wasn't flirty mush. Still, who writes these speeches? Sanji, stop being so dramatic — you're making the rest of us look sane."
[system]: ♥ Observation: Sanji's choice increases risk exposure but aligns with potential allies. ♥
[system]: ♥ Action suggestion: Permit. Monitor for long-term encroachment on Master's social bandwidth. If necessary, escalate protective protocols. ♥
Zeff watched Sanji like a man waiting for a spark to either light or die. Then, softer than any of us expected, he said, "If you're going, don't come back here for comfort. Go find something you can't find standing in my kitchen."
Sanji blinked. Then, with the theatrical flare of a man born to dish out romance on plates, he grabbed Lucy's offered hand.
"Then I'll go with you," he said to her, voice steady. "But don't think this is about you alone." His eyes flicked to us — to Nami, to Zoro, to me. "I go because I owe more than I can pay, and I want a reason to cook that's worth a lifetime's work."
Lucy, who had moments ago threatened mass theatrical starvation, beamed like she'd won a prize. "Yes! New cook! Double rations! I hope he's good at desserts too."
The moment blew up into the usual mess of yelling and good-bye theatrics. Usopp made a vow to be the grand chronicler of Sanji's heroic departure. Zoro and Sanji exchanged their usual gravelly insults — "Don't die on me" — disguised as barbs. It was exactly the sort of loud, human mess I'd signed up for.
Sanji took a small bow, then dropped to one knee in front of Zeff — the famous kneeling scene, but this time it felt more like a promise than supplication. "Old man," he said, breath shuddering, "I'll come back with the All Blue or I'll die trying. Thank you for the plate, the leg, the life."
Zeff looked down at him, a hard thing to read. For a beat, the old man's face cracked open, and something like affection spilled through. "Bring me a fish I can't fry," Zeff said gruffly. "And don't come back with childish excuses."
Sanji rose, and the room seemed to exhale. It was messy, imperfect, and full of love. Exactly what a crew needed.
{ego}: "Okay readers, moment of clarity: Sanji's gone and you probably cried. I mean—me? Pfft—no, not me. But fine. He did well. He still drools at hair, but whatever. Good luck to the floppy-handed cook."
[system]: ♥ Master's social network modified: Sanji added as allied asset. Monitoring level: persistent. Emotional jealousy: registered, non-critical. Protective override on standby. ♥
Zoro grumbled something about "don't get sentimental," immediately followed by a half-smile that was impossible to hide. Sanji snorted, lighting another cigarette as if that would soothe the storm in his chest.
"Don't expect me to cook you a lifetime's worth of steaks for free," Sanji said, eyes locking with mine for a flash. Something in his gaze was a promise, not just to Lucy, but to the whole rag-tag group. "I'll do it because I want to find the All Blue. But if you idiots get in my way, I'll fry you myself."
Lucy hopped up, hugging Sanji with no care for formality. "Deal! Now, let's eat and leave before the old man has a change of heart."
We all laughed — a ragged, relieved sound. Life slid back into motion. As Sanji began to pack what little he'd take, Zeff slapped a battered tin lunchbox into his hands and shoved him toward the gangplank with the force of a man sending his child into a storm.
I watched it all, thinking that this — the arguing, the aching promises, the small betrayals that were really tests — was the exact kind of life I wanted. A life where people left and came back stronger, where cooks chased oceans and swordsmen chased blades, and where my little absurd family kept growing stranger.
[system]: ♥ Note: If any party attempts to monopolize Master's attention, pre-emptive affection subroutines will activate. Love you, Master. ♥
{ego}: "And now, ladies and gentlemen, cue the next arc. Put on your tissues, prepare the maps, and don't forget to check Sanji's hair — it's getting longer and therefore more dangerous."
We set sail soon after; the Going Merry's deck was louder by one more voice, and for once, the future felt like a warm, messy stew — too salty to be perfect, but exactly the thing we all wanted for dinner.