also sanji & hai new years kiss uwu
the fireworks were dazzling, bright colours exploding in the air, a testament to franky and usopp's hard work and preparation for the event. who knew you could make fireworks out of cola?
despite being in the middle of the sea, in the middle of nowhere, in the middle of the night, the sunny was alive with laughter and music and cheers as the display went off, the new year ticking away second by second, the clock having just struck midnight.
it was the first time the straw hats had celebrated the new year together, and they were going to make it a memorable one.
when midnight had come, they were a happy mass of smiles and laughter and passed around booze, but hai, who had been plucking away at the piano while brook played the violin, had stopped his singing as the countdown began. this was the first year hai had the chance to do something she'd wanted to do for a long time, and that made her into a person on a mission.
hai's bright eyes, shining even before the fireworks had begun, searched the crowd of his crew mates, until his eyes fell on one in particular.
squished between luffy and zoro (how much had they been drinking?) was sanji, cigarette threatening to fall from his lips and he danced and sang with his friends, eyes closed as he seemed blissfully caught up in the revelry, without a care in the world.
hai pushed up from the piano bench, crossing the deck in a few smooth strides, reaching up to grab sanji's face, yanking him down with such eagerness that the cigarette finally fell onto the deck, sanji's eyes wide as he let himself be pulled away from luffy and zoro.
his smile sly and teasing, hai didn't say anything, not even that traditional greeting to the new year, instead opting to press up on his toes, meeting sanji half way with a long, slow kiss. it lasted longer than it needed to, perhaps, but hai didn't care to put limits on it. even surrounded by the crew, she wasn't shy, and seas knew sanji wouldn't care as long as he was getting kissed by a pretty lady- except now, there was only one person he wanted kissing him.
after years of tiptoeing around the reality of the situation, around the truth of their feelings, hai and sanji had finally come to terms with things, and their hearts wandered no more. sanji still appreciated women, of course, still got weak in the knees when one asked him for anything, but now his heart belonged to only one, and this was their first new years together.
it took the sound of usopp clearing his throat quite loudly, and a few scattered laughs, to bring the couple back to the present, hai flushed but smiling still, sanji just as red and just as happy. even parted, hai didn't let go of sanji's face, making him stay on her level, murmuring as the cheering resumed amid the fireworks exploding in the sky, voice soft as he spoke,
"happy new years, sanji. i have a feeling this is going to be a good year."
