How Does A Moment Last Forever

[Rated M, due to description of violence]

It was a good day, a calm day Sanji thought to himself as he hummed to himself. A special day his mother would have said and on this special day he decided to cook for everyone a dish of their choosing. Of course Nami-San was first and she chose Shrimp Scampi, a lovely choice! Robin-Chan was next and she chose Pelmeni, another fine choice, his Captain surprised him by actually asking for food by name and instead of just MEAT! He asked for Fe-joe-da, Fei-joa-da Sanji corrected him, he had a feeling Robin had been reading his cookbooks to their captain. Chopper chose a sweet Mango Parfait and a Chocolate Lava Cake, Usopp chose Bunny Chow that his mother used to make for him, Franky asked for medium rare steak with loaded mashed potatoes, Brook wanted his usual favorite Curry, Jinbei politely asked to have the same thing as Franky, and fucking Zoro asked for damn rice balls.

He sighed standing in front of the stove as he added seven pieces of shrimp into the pan along with the noodles and herbs, watching as they got their color and he could imagine them swimming in the ocean. A couple minutes later and the dish was perfect and ready to serve, he lifted the on of the heat and clicked of the burner before walking around the island and passed Jinbei and Franky who were entering the kitchen to get some drinks from the fridge, the cook didn't mind them going near the other dishes he was preparing as long. Just as long as it wasn't Luffy.

Sanji walked towards the dining table to serve Nami-San who had her plate ready, he smiled at her and with every step he took he could hear bubbles, more specifically water bubbles and suddenly he was submerged in water from head to toe. Underwater, the blonde was surrounded by shrimp, shrimp that he's only seen at the- ah, he was daydreaming again.

No wonder his head felt fuzzy and feet light, he could feel himself swimming but no matter how invested he was in his daydreams his observation haki was number one in the crew. That's why he could feel his captain watching him, his eyes on him, he wondered what his captain was looking at? What caught his attention on Sanji's person today?

Was it his hair that had grown to his shoulders and had styled it into a half ponytail today? Luffy did like to play with the blonde locks and comment on how soft it is but it will end up knots by the time Luffy was done calling the pile of hay on his head a braid, or just a new awesome hair due. It was a pain to unknot but Sanji would never tell Luffy to stop.

It could be Zoro's one golden earring that hangs on Sanji's own ear who Zoro had given to him almost twenty years ago as a declaration to always stand by his side. Luffy tinkered with it as well, so much that Sanji asked him that he should ask Zoro one of his own and his captain only shook his head and said, "Nah, I don't like jewelry but they look pretty on Zoro and you." That captain of his never realizing how such simple words always made his heart stutter.

Maybe what he was looking at was his own straw hat that hung around Sanji's neck at his back, did he want it back? The straw hat that was officially his after reuniting with Red-Haired Shanks told him to keep it and now Luffy would put on Sanji anthe cook would hold onto it until his captain would get it back. Luffy entrusting his hat to him started around the same time of Zoro's proposal. Luffy would say it was because his two most treasured things should stay together, and again that time he had turned as red as a tomato. This time around the straw hat has been in Sanji's possession for almost a month, not the longest he's cared for it but if he wanted it back Luffy would just grab it.

Or was he looking at the visible scars on his skin that Luffy would touch with his calloused fingers as much as Sanji enjoyed doing the same to Luffy's own. Luffy traced the scar over his knuckles on his dominant right hand a lot since he got it, and always asks, "Does it hurt?"

"No, but I have aches every now and then," Sanji would say honestly.

Sanji got the scar on his knuckles from the first and only time he used his fists to fight, if you could call it a fight when his opponent didn't even get a chance to fight back, much less defend themselves. The damn crook had shot Luffy with a sea stone bullet and seeing his captain's body on the floor bleeding out after hearing the gunshot and seeing them holding the gun, Sanji felt hot in an instant, saw red and then nothing. It wasn't the first time he blacked out but it still bothered him that he doesn't remember much other than Zoro pulling him off the crook and the smell of burning flesh, "Stop! Sanji! They're dead!" It was one of the rare times Zoro actually used his name. And when he came back from whatever darkness he was drowning in, Chopper was tending to his hand, the skin had pulled back burned revealing clean white bone and three of his knuckles were broken. Guess his insides weren't fireproof, Chopper told him his skin would scar over and it made him wonder how long he had been punching the bastard before Zoro had pulled him away.