𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐞 ☓ Vinsmoke Sanji

nine

𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐞
𝐬𝐚𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐠𝐨𝐨𝐝𝐛𝐲𝐞

☁

EDEN ENTERS THE KITCHEN WITH A BAG SLUNG OVER HER SHOULDER. "Are you leaving?" Zeff asks as he limps over to her. "Yeah, I think it's time," she tells the man, a small frown on her face.

"Go make your dreams come true little peach," he encourages her, "You're going to make me cry, old man," she groans. Zeff gives her a stern look at the nickname, "Has Sanji said goodbye yet?" she questions.

"No. I doubt he's going to," the chef tells her. "I swear he's so stubborn it pisses me off," Eden rolls her eyes, Zeff chuckles lightly at her words. "Don't fight with him too much," he tells her sternly.

"He starts it," she shrugs innocently, Zeff stays silent and raises his eyebrows. "Okay... I'll try," she says.

It stays quiet for a moment, "Thank you for taking care of me all these years," Eden says, tears pooling in her eyes.

"Of course little peach."

"I don't know how I could ever repay you," she admits, Zeff shakes his head at her. "You don't have to," he says.

Eden quickly wipes her tears away with her palms and walks closer to him, engulfing him in a hug. Zeff freezes for a moment, she hasn't hugged him in years. Soon enough he returns the hug with a soft smile on his lips.

"Now go on little peach," he says as they pull away, Eden looks up at him and notices his teary eyes. "Go be a doctor," he tells her, ushering her toward the door.

Eden walks out, "Don't let him go without a goodbye," she tells him- glancing over her shoulder. "I won't," he promises. "I'll visit you... and don't worry, I'll bring that stupid asshat too," Eden tells him and he nods at her before she disappears from his view.

Before she leaves to go to the ship, Eden has one more person to say goodbye to. The double doors shut behind her as she walks into the restaurant. Immediately she spots a familiar pink-haired girl standing behind the bar.

"Maevey!" Eden greets, Maeve looks up from the bar and quickly a smile plays on her lips. "Eden!" the girl calls back, "When does your shift start?" she asks. Eden stops in front of her and grabs her hand.

"I'm leaving," she says, Maeve looks confused. "What?" the pink-haired girl asks, "I'm coming to say goodbye," Eden informs her with a frown.

"What? Where are you going?" Maeve questions, "I'm leaving with Luffy and his crew," Eden tells her, feeling guilty for the short notice. An angry frown overtakes Maeve's face. "How could you not tell me?" Maeve questions angrily, "I only decided like a few hours ago," Eden defends herself calmly.

"What the fuck, Eden!" Maeve exclaims, "I know, I'm sorry! But I'm going to make my dream come true," the purple-haired girl says.

Maeve scoffs, "Your dream?" she asks. "You mean where you play doctor?" Eden's mouth falls open at her words. "Yes... my dream. I understand that you're upset, but I don't know why you're giving me this reaction," she says.

"Because, Eden, you're leaving me all alone to go and pretend you're a doctor on a pirate ship!" Maeve yells, "Wow..." Eden whispers. "Fuck you," she mutters before moving away from the girl behind the bar.

"You're just gonna leave like that?" Maeve asks, still seething with anger. "Yes, Maeve, I am. I will not listen to you making fun of something I'm passionate about! You know I've been working on my own medicine and that I've been studying to become a doctor since I was little. And I will not have you tell me it's all stupid and that it's all pretend."

"Fine! Leave then. See if I care," Maeve scoffs before returning to her bar duties. Eden turns her back to the pink-haired girl and walks out of the restaurant.

With teary eyes, she walks up to Sanji and the two of them make their way to Luffy's ship. "You okay?" Sanji asks her, Eden looks up at him. "So you do care about me," she teases, pushing her tears away.

"You wish," Sanji scoffs, "I kinda do," she mumbles but it's too quiet for Sanji to hear. The two watch as Luffy climbs down the net on his ship. "Heard you guys need a cook," Sanji says, "And a doctor," Eden pops up behind him.

Luffy looks over his shoulder, a bright smile immediately makes its way onto his face. "Yeah! Yes, we do!" he chuckles happily as Sanji climbs onto the ship. Luffy places his hand on Sanji's shoulder and looks between his two new crew members, "Welcome aboard," he says.

When Sanji's onboard, Eden also climbs onto the ship- looking back at Baratie already slightly homesick even though they haven't left yet. When she looks to the boat again she sees Zoro sitting on a crate.

"It's good to see you awake. How are you feeling?" Eden questions as she walks up to him, "Getting better," he tells her, his voice dull. "Thank you for saving my life, I owe you," he tells her genuinely, Eden shakes her head.

"Nah, you don't owe me shit," she says, Zoro lets out an amused chuckle. "I'm being serious. I did it because I wanted to not because I was expecting something back from you," she tells him.

"Alright, alright. Still, thank you," he says, Eden smiles at him. "Dropping the sail!" she hears Usopp call out so she quickly excuses herself and walks to the back of the boat.

"Casting off."

Eden steps up beside Sanji. He's staring ahead of him so she follows his eyes. Across from them, on the dock, stands Zeff, Patty, and some more kitchen workers and restaurants. Eden notices that Maeve is nowhere to be found.

Sanji turns on his heel to walk away, "Hey, Sanji!" they hear Zeff yell, the sound of the chef's voice is enough to make Sanji turn around again.

"You keep your feet dry," Zeff tells the boy, "Goodbye Zeff," Sanji says back before turning around to walk away. Eden puts her hand on his shoulder to stop him in his tracks. The blonde looks down at her with teary eyes as she looks up at him with a stern look, "You'll regret it if you walk away," she tells him.

Sanji hesitates for a second before turning back to face Baratie. "You know, all these years, living under your shitty roof, cooking in your shitty restaurant...I owe you my life!" Sanji tells the man standing on the dock.

Eden wipes away a stray tear that falls onto her cheek as she watches the scene in front of her. "Thank you for putting up with my shit and me fighting with Eden all these years, old man," Sanji says, tears rolling down his face.

"I'll never forget you, Zeff!" Sanji promises, and Zeff raises his hand- waving them goodbye. Sanji and Eden wave back at him, tears still rolling down both their cheeks.

Eden looks up at the boy beside her and notices his sad expression. The look on his face makes her hesitantly slip her hand into Sanji's. He glances at her before intertwining their fingers. The two of them watch Baratie become smaller and smaller until finally, it's out of their view.

a/n

progress??? also what do we think about the situation with Maeve?