#grumpy pudding

Part I

Sanji exhaled deeply when he paused to glance up at the blazing blue sky above his head, then ran the back of his hand across his forehead to wipe away the thin sheen of sweat that had accumulated there. I hope everyone is hanging in there. We’re almost done! He hoped as he glanced back down at the deck of the ship, which was bustling with activity as the cooks under Chiffon’s command frantically ran hither and thither. To appease Big Mom’s murderous rage, he had been assisting the twenty-second daughter of the Emperor in baking an exact replica of the wedding cake for the last several hours. They were so close to finishing, but with no news of how the rest of the crew was doing, he was admittedly anxious. I just have to have faith. 

“Sanji!” The Straw Hat pirate turned as his name was abruptly called, just in time to see the pink-haired, brawny pirate wife tottering toward him. “It’s nearly ready! Here! Taste it!” she insisted as she held out a fork with a bit of the spongey iced cake on the end. Sanji did as bid, and as the sweet taste spread over his tongue, he could not help but grin devilishly. 

“It’s absolutely divine, Chiffon! This cake will stop Big Mom right in her tracks! I guarantee it!” As he smirked triumphantly, the cooks cheered happily, and the crew began scrambling around once more to set course for the island on which they were rendezvousing with the rest of Sanji’s crewmates. Sanji approached the towering wedding cake, occasionally barking orders at the cooks who were providing finishing touches to the icing. He could see Pudding hovering off to the side out of the corners of his eyes, staring hard at him. Pudding really is cute. Too bad my heart belongs to another woman, he thought apologetically. The image of the beautiful, tangerine-haired navigator flashed into his mind for a brief moment. He wondered if she was all right. Before his mind could descend into frightening scenarios, he hastily bent his thoughts on the cake. I can’t worry about her… I have to believe that Luffy will protect her—all of them, but especially her. 

“Sanji, I have a question for you!” Chiffon chirped at him suddenly, and he turned once more to face the large woman. “What is Nami’s favorite kind of cake?”

Sanji had to admit that he was surprised that she would ask so suddenly about the woman, especially when he had just been thinking about her. 

“Why would you ask about her?” Pudding snapped grumpily. At the mention of the navigator, the caramel-haired baking expert had rushed to Sanji’s side, glaring daggers at the clueless Chiffon. She still kept her distance from him, though, her fingers twitching anxiously as she watched to see how he would react. Sanji looked back at Bege’s wife, sliding his hands into his pockets. 

“Yeah, Chiffon, what’s up with this all of a sudden?” he agreed. 

“Nami is Lola’s friend, yes? I’ve heard a lot about the good things she did for her,” she explained with a big smile. “So, Nami is my friend too. I just want to bake a small cake for her, to thank her for helping Lola so much.”

It sounded like a good enough reason to Sanji, so he pulled out one hand to rub his chin thoughtfully. 

“Hmm, I see. Well, Nami loves tangerines, for sure, but she also likes fruits in general. She’s partial to berries, though—especially strawberries. Those are her favorite. As for cakes, angel food cake is definitely her top choice, but strawberry cake and vanilla cake are close seconds. She prefers whipped frosting over creamy frosting,” he babbled, and as he continued to talk about her, a smile naturally formed on his face. It had taken a lot of trial and error and careful observation to discern what her food preferences were. He could just see that little smile on her face as she sat bent over her work desk, nibbling at some confection or another he had prepared for her. She always hid in her office when he made something just for her, but she left the door cracked to let the sea breeze in; he would always peer into her room to see her reaction for just a brief moment. She would always bring him the plate when she was done with a simple “thank you,” but when she turned around, there would be a flash of happiness on her face that Sanji always managed to catch. 

“You like Nami, don’t you?”

Sanji was snapped out of his fantasizing by Chiffon’s amused question, and he looked back at her to see her smiling knowingly. He could feel Pudding bristling next to him, quaking with rage, but he wasn’t going to lie for her sake. 

“I don’t just like her. I love her!” he confirmed with a big, happy grin. Sanji really did, though he had played it off all this time—mostly because he knew that his past would eventually catch up to him one day. Now that everything was out in the open, though, why did he have to hide it? 

“Sanji, what about me?” Pudding pouted beside him, her face taking on that dark, murderous shadow he had seen many times over the strange roller-coaster ride that was his captivity in Big Mom’s empire. He looked down at her, and, not missing a beat, flashed her an alluring smile. 

“Oh, but you’re beautiful, Pudding,” he told her smoothly, and she squealed and clapped her hands to her cheeks, gushing over the compliment. That ought to appease her for the moment, he thought with a slight sigh. Pudding had turned out to be not that bad after all—more than anything, he just felt bad for her. All her life, she had been told she was a three-eyed monster and a tool. Though Sanji admittedly felt nothing romantic for the girl, he always wanted to make women feel beautiful and worth something, and Pudding was no exception—despite her murderous alter ego. As the girl scampered away to swoon, Sanji looked back at Chiffon. “I love Nami,” he repeated, “but I don’t know how she feels about me.” 

“You haven’t told her yet?” Chiffon asked him with a deep frown, and he shook his head with a small sigh.

Sanji glanced over the side of the boat out at sea, where the waves were writhing as if mirroring the maelstrom that was their dismal situation. The sea always reminded him of Nami. In the brief moments of respite during his tortuous two-year training period, he would stand on the shore with his boots off and his pants legs rolled up, ankle-deep in the surf, and watch the waves roll in and out. He would wonder where she was, what she was doing, and if she was safe. He had thought of her even more while he was a prisoner in the vast castle complex of Big Mom. He could tell himself that he felt something for Pudding and would be able to live with marrying her all day, but when night fell, and he would lay in his bed alone with his thoughts, his mind was bent on Nami. Her smile, her beautiful tangerine hair, her robust confidence and brazen personality—everything he loved about her, and he would regret holding his tongue. I should have said something, he would think. Now it’s too late. 

Things were different now, though. There was a pretty good chance that he could escape Big Mom’s clutches. What would he do now? All his life, he had lived expecting this to be the end, and now his future was uncertain. Chiffon patiently watched him think, then chortled loudly, bringing him back to the present.

“Would you like to help me bake the cake for Nami?” Chiffon suggested. 

“Of course.” Sanji never missed an excuse to cook something. He glanced over at Pudding, who was mumbling under her breath about winning Sanji or something along those lines. “Pudding? Would you like to join us?” 

“Absolutely not! I won’t make anything for that woman!” she snapped hotly, her caramel pigtails whipping about as she shook her head wildly. He chuckled at her blatant refusal and shrugged, accompanying Chiffon across the deck. Naturally, Pudding stood there for a few minutes, fuming, before stomping after him. She hovered over his shoulder as he assisted Chiffon, alternating between gushing over his cooking prowess and hissing about the fact that he was making something for another woman. Within half an hour, they had a little two-tier angel food cake with tangerine whipped frosting garnished with a couple of tangerine slices. 

“Oh! It’s perfect!” Chiffon cried in delight. 

“It isn’t anything special,” Pudding retorted with her cheeks puffed out defiantly and her slim arms crossed with displeasure. One of the cooks brought them a box, and they carefully put the cake inside and tied it shut with string. 

“Make sure you get this to Nami, Sanji, safe and sound!” Chiffon told him as he took the box and carefully slipped it into one of the pockets on the inside of his coat. It made an obvious bulge, but it was the safest place he could think to keep it in the coming chaos. 

“I will, Chiffon,” he assured her.

One of the cooks started yelling that the island was in sight. He walked over to the side of the boat, placing his hands on the wooden railing as he watched it slowly approach. His friends were out there. Nami was out there. 

I have to deliver this present safely to Nami for Chiffon… He glanced over his shoulder at the large woman, who was grinning mischievously at him while Pudding sulked beside her. Use this present to tell her how you feel, she was telling him. Sanji looked back at the swirling ocean, at the island rapidly growing larger on the horizon, at the battle he had yet to fight, at his uncertain future… 

I’m coming, Nami.

Part II

Sanji took a long drag from his cigarette as he stood at the railing of the ship, gazing quietly out at the endless expanse of indigo waves stretching out in all directions before him. It was funny how often things were taken for granted when they were always present in the backdrop of life. As soon as they were torn away, it was suddenly evident that that thing was impossibly necessary, and its absence became something painful. The rolling sea was such a thing for Sanji, as he had spent an agonizing time apart from its gentle melodies of sloshing water and soft kisses of salty spray. Perhaps it was not merely just the sea itself, but the act of standing upon the Thousand Sunny looking out at it that had been what had made his heart yearn while he was held captive by Big Mom and her massive brood of destructive children. Either way, that aching chasm had been filled once his gaze had landed upon the horizon, filling him with an odd sense of completeness.

Night had fallen once more. The Thousand Sunny was currently sailing full-speed for Wano after successfully, albeit narrowly, plucking Sanji from the vicious claws of the giantess. After such a tense experience, the ship had descended into a restful slumber. The cook, however, felt no ounce of drowsiness within his being and had thus meandered out onto the familiar yet foreign deck to turn his eyes upon the tapestry of ocean spread beyond its sturdy frame. As the smoke swirled in wisps before his face before gently being swept away by the breeze, he stared out at the two-toned landscape. The continuously rolling sea seemed to capture the starlight for itself, replicating it in forms like glittering diamonds tossing about in the foamy spray. The moon hung low in the sky tonight to bathe the world in its mute white brilliance; the streams caught in Sanji’s blonde strands to turn them a pale cream. He remained in his white tuxedo, having not the energy or thought to change as of yet, and its thread seemed to soak up the moonlight to glow with all the splendor of freshly fallen snow. Truly, it was a calm night, and per the recent events, Sanji relished it. Calmness was also something he had taken for granted, the ability to simply be without the intrusive thoughts that one’s actions could lead directly to another’s death. It was a burden he was glad to be rid of.

Sanji finished the last of his cigarette before removing it from his teeth and flicking it out into the sea. The waves greedily swallowed the bud, its burning ember point vanishing under the assault of the overwhelming blue. As his body shifted to act, he became aware of a lump within his inner coat pocket; with a raised eyebrow, he fished it out. In his hand was a small box tied with string, or rather, that’s what it originally was. The package had been deformed, pushed in at odd places with creamy frosting leaking out of one of the seams. Nami’s cake! Though he had been charged by Chiffon to see the dessert safely to the navigator, he had tremendously failed at the endeavor. His mood plummeted as he stared down at the crumpled package and the promise he had carried, the promise to himself to finally profess his feelings to the woman who held his heart.

“Whatcha got there?”

Sanji whirled about as he while hiding the pathetically injured box behind his back. He knew, of course, who had spoken, because how could he forget that lovely voice of Nami’s? She had awoken from sleep and wandered out onto the deck for a bit of fresh air. She probably came to stargaze—which she often did, as he had noticed—and spotted him inspecting the tiny parcel. Sanji tried to play it off, chuckling nonchalantly as he rubbed the back of his neck, but really, he just made himself look more suspicious. It seemed that the acting skills he had displayed on Whole Cake Island had made a hasty getaway.

“Nothing at all, Nami-swan! What are you doing awake at this hour? A beautiful woman needs her rest, you know,” he trilled while continuing to laugh breathily. Nami’s brown eyes narrowed, and she stomped over to him to attempt to peer around his well-built frame and catch a glimpse of what he was hiding. Sweating now, Sanji weaved around her piercing gaze. “Really! I’m not hiding anything!” he protested.

“I’m not an idiot, Sanji. Lemme see!” Desperate to get at the secret, Nami unabashedly pressed herself against him while groping behind his back in an attempt to grab it. Sanji’s face turned the color of ripe apples as her chest pressed against his, and steam nearly blasted out of his ears as the gears in his mind went into screaming overdrive. He almost fainted there on the spot at the sensual touch that Nami was utterly unaware of because of his fixation on the hidden present, but Sanji managed to steel himself and remain conscious. She stuck out her tongue as she pushed further, literally pinning him against the balustrade of the vessel. He had to jerk his arm out over the frothing sea to avoid crushing the little cake and splattering all across his well-tailored white tuxedo. He pondered for a moment whether or not to just drop it into the sea and be done with it, making the embarrassing little thing vanish, but he did not. Rather, he could not; he would never be able to face Chiffon, who had helped him bake the present for Nami that carried his purest feelings.

“Dammit, Sanji, stop being mean! I just wanna know what you’re hiding!” she pouted up at him like a child, her chin resting in the middle of his chest. It was quite clear that she was trying to use her feminine wiles to her advantage and was frustrated that Sanji did not melt into a puddle of obedient gush at the slightest application of them. Sanji exhaled deeply, too tired from trying to do just that, and planted a hand on her shoulder to firmly pry her body from his.

“All right, fine, but you can’t laugh,” he sighed. 

“Why would I?” she blinked at him with a frown. She crossed her arm and cocked her hip, finger tapping furiously against the muscle of her forearm—impatient as she ever was. Sanji straightened himself up, and, very hesitantly, revealed the crumpled box. Nami’s nut-brown eyes widened slightly as she beheld the unassuming little parcel she had been so adamant about clapping her eyes on.

“It was supposed to be for you, but… It kind of got damaged with all the fighting. Sorry,” he admitted quietly. He wasn’t quite sure how she would react, so he just stood there with his eyes downcast. He saw Nami’s delicate little hands reach out, hesitate for a second in front of the parcel, then enclosed around the side of the box. His gaze followed it as she pulled it to herself and slowly untied the string. It fell away, writhing like a snake as it fell to the ground and coiled between them. Her silence unnerved him, and so his gaze flickered upward to her face so that he could read her expression. Her eyebrows were raised slightly with her eyes fixed upon the disaster that must have been that small cake, and her lips were parted slightly. He could tell she was a little surprised, but he could not gauge where the conversation would go next. He fidgeted nervously, shifting his weight uncomfortably from one leg to another. This isn’t how I wanted it to go; it’s not right… “Look, I know it looks awful now, so can you just—"

Without a word, Nami plucked a tangerine half-smothered in frosting and popped it into her mouth. As he gawked at her, her eyes turned upwards to meet his while chewing on the citrus slice calmly.

“It’s delicious, Sanji,” she answered tranquilly when she swallowed. Sanji, having not expected such a reaction, just continued to stare at her with his mouth hanging open as she delicately pulled a piece of the angel food cake from the box and stuck it in her mouth. Admittedly, his heart fluttered slightly as she licked the frosting from her fingertips. Nami’s eyes had his own locked within a vice grip the entire time, and she must have known had maddeningly sexy the whole display was. “Did you make this?”

“Chiffon and I did. She wanted to know your favorites to make you a cake as thanks for helping Lola.”

Nami nodded at his explanation, continuing to just casually eat the cake with her fingers as if she was not intentionally provocative about it the entire time. Sanji’s heart, initially stopped in his chest, had taken up a furious tempo; his fingers twitched slightly, as his senses drowned in the joy that Nami was enjoying his creation. However, there was just something off about the entire thing; the way that she was behaving had his instincts buzzing. Nami was like an unpredictable tiger, currently content and purring and playful, but who knew if that invitation would lead to a painful mauling? It was almost as if she knew there was a deeper meaning behind the little cake and was intentionally being coy to draw it out of him. It was certainly in her wily nature. He continued to watch her eat the cake, and she watched him, calculating and daring. It’s not like Sanji was unwilling; he had spent agonizing hours in the thrall of his regret of not telling the gorgeous navigator the true depths of his feelings. Even if it isn’t how I envisioned… It’s still my chance.

“Nami,” he murmured and reached out to lightly catch her elbow. Her eyes did not falter from his for a moment; it was like she was searching him, trying to riddle out if the words that were going to pass his lips were some fleeting fancy. “Nami, I—" He was suddenly silenced when she shoved a rather large chunk of the cake into his open mouth. He recoiled with large eyes, the confection only limply held between his teeth as the frosting began to melt on his tongue, spreading its sugary goodness across his taste buds. He was hardly aware of it because he was so reeling with confusion. Nami grinned coyly as she sucked a bit of the whipped frosting from her finger. Unpredictable vixen… he thought with a resigned sigh, his mouth curling upward into a smile.

“It wouldn’t be fair if you didn’t get a taste of the wonderful cake you made, now would it?” she laughed lightly as she tossed the now-empty box aside.

Sanji was now chewing thoughtfully on the cake. He honestly had no clue what was going on anymore; the situation had spiraled rapidly out of control. The ball was in the navigator’s court, and he had decided he was just going to stand there and let her run the show. She placed a hand on his hip as she regarded him levelly. It now seemed as if she were searching herself, whether she wanted to hear what he had to say at all. After a moment, she very softly murmured, “Now… What were you going to say?”

“I love you, Nami,” he spit out immediately. Now that he had committed, he could no longer contain himself. He grabbed her by her upper arms, firmly but not violently, as he took a step closer to her with his eyes boring intently into her own. “I mean it, really, I do.” Sanji knew that the odds were not in his favor. He knew he had a penchant for cherishing women; it was just the way he was. He couldn’t help but want to make every woman feel like a goddess. But Nami was his supreme deity, the queen of them all, the one whom he yearned to please the most. “Even if you don’t feel the same way, I want to know tha—"

Once again, he was silenced, this time by Nami’s lips smothering his own. He went rigid with shock as she stood on her tip-toes to softly kiss him, her hand sliding across the back of his neck to tangle her fingers into the ends of his blonde hair. He was still a statue carved of stone when she pulled back with a small smile.

“You had frosting on your mouth. I couldn’t let it go to waste.” At her utterance, he suddenly regained the ability to move and looked down at her incredulously. Then, he was seized by an overwhelming burst of passion and need to have her mouth against his own once more. His lips crashed against hers, feverish, desperate. His hands rose to cup her soft cheeks as their lips began to dance together in a passionate samba before one of them moved to the back of her head to mingle with her wild waves of tangerine hair. Nami’s body molded against his, fitting her every curve against his rigidly sculpted muscles like an interlocking puzzle. Sanji tried to pour every ounce of his undying love for her into that kiss, silently conveying everything he could not in words. He could never put it into words, the way he felt about her, how she was the center of his world, this divine being that he worshipped, whom he wanted to hold and cherish and treasure for the rest of his life. He knew he wasn’t worthy of her, she that shone with all the power and majesty of the sun; he was just a meager weed begging to be graced with her shimmering waves. He kissed her hungrily because he had been starved of her, she that was a life-giving spring he so drastically wished to bathe in after spending so long at the edge. Sanji felt all this and so much more, and Nami received all of that willingly. In return, he got her acceptance, her admission, her divine graces.

His hands had begun to explore the nuances of her body, carefully marking every curve in the perfect roadmap that she was. Imploring, he ran his tongue along her bottom lip, and she graciously complied, parting her lips to allow him entry. He pushed the kiss further, angling his head while pulling her tongue into a tumultuous tango, swirling within the ballroom that was their mouths. Nami’s fingers curled into the thick fabric of his tuxedo as her breathing began to grow ragged, and that sound of exertion sent Sanji into a high. The sweet taste of her like the purest honey over his tongue, the sound of her light gasps that was like a harmonic symphony in his ears, the electric pulses that her touch sent rocketing through his nerves—it was all enough to get him drunker than he had ever been. Barely thinking straight anymore, he pulled back to pepper her face in light kisses, everywhere he could reach, whispering that he loved her between every breath while tears fell from his eyes. He loved her so much that it hurt, a tightness in his chest like he was suffocating. His Nami, who had given herself to him, who he would give his life for and wanted to raise to the goddess that she was in his eyes—he showered her in all the love he had to offer and more. In his fit of ecstatic delirium, he wondered if he had fallen into some seductive nightmare and would soon awaken to find that he had fallen prey to lucid fantasies and nothing more.

But when he regained himself, panting heavily from exertion and overwhelming feeling, she was still there in his arms, her face hovering just beneath his. Her finger traced patterns down his jawline while her other curled around a strand of his hair, and she was smiling like she was waiting for him to say something.

“You had frosting on your mouth,” was the first thing that came to mind. She giggled, and Sanji recalled that he absolutely adored the way she laughed; it sounded like the clearest of tinkling bells. After she finished laughing, she purred almost like a cat, and the way her chest rumbled against his made Sanji almost want to pull her back into another heated kiss.

“I love you too, Sanji.” Every cell in his body sang as she whispered that, and he did not even try to hide his delight; his smile nearly broke his face as he leaned down to touch their foreheads, not even able to speak because of how stupidly and strongly he was grinning. She chuckled again. She continued to leave those tender touches along the side of his face while he ducked down to give her another soft kiss as a sign of his gratitude for returning his affections. It was a slow, gentle kiss, nothing like the intense display before. As he pulled back, she was smiling warmly too. “Just never pull another stupid stunt like that again, okay?” Though her tone was light, he could tell from the tightness in her facial muscles that she was nearly begging him.

“Of course. I’m never, ever, ever leaving your side again, Nami-swan.” She rolled her eyes playfully at his rather overdramatic response because she knew Sanji would literally cling to her like a burr to clothes.

“Don’t go overboard.”

Sanji chuckled breathily and, so intensely in love with the bold, powerful woman, once again swept her up into a kiss. With only the moon and stars as witnesses with the wind and sea providing orchestra for the two lone performers of passion, the Thousand Sunny sailed on, bearing him and Nami onward into an uncertain future… But he was not concerned, because he had the woman he loved at his side, and she had him at hers, ever-locked in a bond of devotion and trust.