Make It Right - Vinsmoke Sanji
Pairing: Vinsmoke Sanji x Fem!Reader [No use of y/n] Summary: Sanji wakes from his slumber but can hardly believe he isn't still dreaming. CW: Fluff, Some Angst Word Count: 1.4k
'From the Night Anonymous' Series [Click Here For All Parts] CH 14 <<<<PREV CH NEXT CH>>>> One Piece Masterlist Sanji Masterlist
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When Sanji opens his eyes, the world shines golden with the evening- barely hinting the first promise of sunset. It only takes a moment to remember where he is, nestled in the garden. So utterly relaxed he hardly wants to move.
Your voice still softly reads through the pages of his treasured book, settling over him comforting and warm. The sigh that escapes when your fingers brush softly through his hair is heavy and heavenly. Though, not nearly so angelic as the voice that calls to him. “Sanji,” how he longs to live in that sound, “are you awake?”
How could he be? Something so devastatingly perfect- how could it be anything but- “I’m still dreaming.”
“Are you?” he can hear the upward tilt of your lips in the question.
“I must be,” he mutters, nuzzling into your soft lap, hands holding tighter and willing himself to keep dreaming.
“Hmm,” you ponder, gently putting aside the beloved book- noting the page. You’ve nearly read through the entire thing since Sanji fell asleep. But, you hadn’t dared to stop- hadn’t dared to move. He looked so peaceful, so angelic, so untroubled that you couldn’t bear the thought of waking him. So instead, you just kept reading- hoping your voice could sweeten his dreams with words of the All Blue.
Both hands rest atop his head, fingers softly combing through silky golden strands. Dramatically, you sigh, “oh, my sweet Prince, still lost to slumber.” Sanji closes his eyes, but can’t hide the smile waking across his lips or the warmth spreading across his cheeks. “Whatever shall I do?” Featherlight, your fingers trail the curves of his outline- across the curl of his brow, down the slope of his nose, tracing his smile.
Sanji’s heart near absconds its cage when you lean down and he feels the flutter of your lashes against his skin. “Perhaps…” you muse softly, “a kiss…?” Hands cupping his face, fingertips at his jawline- your breath is sweet across his brow when your lips press between them.
Biting his tongue to hide the satisfied sigh in his heart, Sanji lays there and enjoys the touch of your kiss, letting it breathe him back to life- whole body vibrating as your lips hum against him before pulling away.
Eyes opening, Sanji stares up at you- breathtaken.
“He’s awake!” you gasp with a smile bright enough to shine away every nightmare he’s ever had.
“True love’s kiss, mon cœur,” he lilts up to you, voice still deepened with sleep. Slowly, his hand rises, fingers trailing your face as if to remind himself that he is, indeed, awake.
“True love’s kiss,” confirming, you turn into his touch- placing another to his palm. How quickly this affection is becoming easy as breathing.
Blinking awake, Sanji slowly rises- noting the way your hand rubs the spot where he lay. “Sorry,” he says sheepishly, hoping he hasn’t made you too uncomfortable.
“Don’t be,” you answer instantly, “it was nice,” giving him a genuine smile. “Did you sleep well?” you ask, smoothing down his hair.
“Never better,” it’s the honest truth. There’s relief in your chest as you watch him stretch his lithe body, cracking his neck and rolling his shoulders. Leaning back, he props his head in his hand as he looks at you, “are you hungry, mon amour?”
“Not yet, Chef,” you assure him. “We’ll be arriving at Finback soon. I was thinking we might do a little exploring before dinner.”
“Yeah?” his grin widens, “like a date?” the question leaves him before he can stop it.
Face heating, your heart flips, “oh, well-” stuttering for your words.
“It doesn’t have to be,” he throws out quickly, reeling himself in. “I was just-”
“Yes.” Before he can slip back down into the hole he still hasn’t fully climbed out of, “like a date.”
But, it’s too late- the guilt creeps into his face though it’s evident the way he tries to hide it. Too much, his mind screams, “it could just be-”
“Sanji,” you lean forward, holding his eyes, “will you go on a date with me?”
He freezes, completely stone- not even his heart beating for a long moment as his brain tries to process what you’ve just asked him. “I’m…” he clears his throat, “I’m supposed to be the one asking you that, ma chérie.” Just another thing he can’t get right.
Just another thing he’s forcing-
“Ask me,” you insist, fingers slotting into his. “I want you to ask me.”
Yet, when you look at him like that- how can he ever refuse?
He’ll do it right- he can do this.
He can give you this.
Rising up on his knees, he takes your hands in his, “ma chérie,” bringing them to his chest, letting you feel the sincerity in it’s beat. “Would you do me the exquisite honor of accompanying me on an outing this evening?”
The look on your face sends his heart dancing against your fingers. Eyes widening, blush blooming, pretty lips parting- you give him a sweet, “yes.” So honeyed he can taste it on his tongue.
Bowing his head, he places a chaste kiss to the back of your hand, delighting at the hitch of your breath and the flutter of your pulse at the wrist. You want this, he tells himself- you’re happy.
“Hey, you’re awake!” Luffy’s voice shines through the air, gripping the railing of the deck with a wide grin.
“I told you to stay down,” an agitated voice sounds from somewhere beneath him- Luffy’s shoulders disappearing as Zoro tries to pull him from the rail.
“Wait, wait- listen,” he insists, squeezing his head between the bars. “Jinbe has a friend on the island and-” it pops through, holding him in place as Zoro keeps trying to pull him off, “-and he has a restaurant- he’s gonna save a place for us one hour after sundown, so- oof-” Zoro’s hand appears to clamp a fistful of the Captain’s hair and pries him from the railing, “-so you gotta join us for dinner! Crew dinner, Captain’s orders! So-!” he doesn’t get anything else out before Zoro pops him out and yanks him down.
Eyes sliding towards Sanji’s, your lips can barely fight the smile that rises or the giggles that follow. Chuckling, Sanji playfully rolls his eyes with a scoff. But, truthfully, the invitation settles him. To know that despite the way he’s been acting- despite the way he acted at the last dinner he bothered to actually sit through- he hadn’t cut himself off so completely as to not receive the invitation. He was still crew- even if he’d been a shitty friend.
At the sound a gull circling overhead, Sanji looks up, “we’re really close,” he notes.
“Less than an hour until we meet land, I think,” you confirm.
“Less than an hour,” Sanji flashes you a smile, bringing your hand to his lips, “until our date, ma chérie,” he says with a wink and a kiss.
Heart fluttering, the butterflies begin to swarm as the reality sets in that you’re about to go on your first date.
It’s silent. Not quiet, not contemplative- but mournful as the grave with unburied regret. The air is so thick, it sticks to the lungs and leaves a bitter taste on Luffy’s tongue he can barely stand to swallow.
Curled up on the floor, glassy eyes red ringed with heavy tears not yet dried on her lashes, Nami doesn’t even move when Luffy enters. The silence spans on seemingly forever and he simply stands there feeling the stretch.
“Luffy…” she barely breaks it, “I messed up.”
Finally, Luffy speaks- but it's the Captain who responds: “I should have seen it sooner- and that’s on me.”
He takes that responsibility, places it rightfully upon his shoulders. He should have noticed something was going on- but he’d been so focused on Sanji he hadn’t seen what was right in front of him.
Slowly, Nami’s eyes find some clarity as they look up at him.
“But what you’ve done- that’s on you.”
Luffy doesn’t know exactly what happened- and he doesn’t need to. He knows enough. Sees it in the guilt that pins Nami to the floor. Sees it in the violet shade of your hand impressed across her face. Saw it in the way you clung to Zoro after leaving her here, desperately trying not to fall apart as something precious was shattered.
“Make it right, Nami.” The order is simple, but unmistakable.
Luffy turns to leave- but pauses as his hand reaches the door. Head turning back over his shoulder, “when we dock tonight,” he adds, “stay on the ship.”
With nothing more to say than that, the Strawhat Captain slips out of the silence, closing the door softly behind him.
➽──────────────❥ 'From the Night Anonymous' Series [Click Here For All Parts] CH 14 <<<<PREV CH NEXT CH>>>> One Piece Masterlist Sanji Masterlist
