Archive of Our Own ^beta

Luffy knew exactly who he wanted his cook to be. 

Maybe not the exact person, but who knew what he wanted them to be like

They had to be a good guy. That was key. He didn’t want to sail with anyone who wasn’t.

They also had to cook delicious food. Luffy wasn’t a picky eater, but he loved food, and he knew his pirate adventure would be better if it was filled with good food.

They also needed a dream, something they were aiming for. Sailing around aimlessly was fun in its own right, but sailing with a purpose, sailing for something, working together to make sure everyone gets what they want, that’s the most fun of all.

If they were strong, that was a bonus. Luffy was strong enough to protect everyone, but it would be nice to have someone else around to help protect them too.

So when he first saw Sanji, when he first tasted his food and felt heaven in his mouth, when he saw that Sanji would never let anyone go hungry no matter what, when he saw him take on and defend the restaurant he called home, when he heard him talk about the All Blue, he knew he found his cook.

He would do whatever it took to keep Sanji by his side. He would give him whatever he wanted, do anything he asked, just as long as Sanji stayed with him.

Sanji was the cook of the Straw Hat pirates, and Luffy would accept no other.

“Without you I can’t become the Pirate King!”

He had shouted out that desperate truth as Sanji grew further and further away from him.

Because it was the truth. He needed all of them, yes, but he needed Sanji by his side. The Pirate King was supposed to be the freest person in the world after all, able to get anything they want.

How could that be him if he didn’t have Sanji?

So he waited for him. He’d wait a lifetime if it meant keeping Sanji by his side.

And return Sanji did, with food even. And stupid reasons for why he couldn’t come back.

None if that mattered. If Sanji wanted to save the Vinsmokes, if Luffy needed to go back to East Blue to protect Zeff, he would. He would give Sanji anything he wanted, whatever he asked for.

Just as long as Sanji stayed.

“What do you want, Sanji?” He asked. 

Luffy knew what Sanji wanted – he always knew what Sanji wanted, but he needed him to say it.

“I want to go home,” Sanji broke down crying, “I want to go back to the Sunny.”

Luffy held him then, and let him cry it all out.

This much he could easily give him.

“I’m sorry,” Sanji muttered into his shirt, “I’m sorry. It’s, all this, fighting Big Mom for those shitty bastards, it’s a lot. I’m a lot. You really should just find another cook.”

Luffy held him tighter, “I don’t want another cook. I want Sanji. I need Sanji. I don’t care if you’re a lot, I’m strong, I can handle it.” He took his hat and placed it on his head, “I just want you.”

Sanji’s eyes grew watery again as he grabbed the rim of the hat and pulled it over his face, “I’m only slowing you down. You can do so much better.”

That confused him. Better than Sanji? How could anything be better than Sanji?

Luffy grabbed his chin and lifted his face so he could look into his eyes, “I can’t do better than Sanji. You make me better.” He ran his thumb across his cheek to catch a stray tear, “How could I want anything other than Sanij?”

Sanji broke again, the tears pouring out of his eyes freely as he held onto Luffy like his life depended on it.

“Take me back,” Sanji whispered in his ear like it was the greatest secret in the world, “Please, when all this is over, when we’re done saving everyone, take me away from here. Take me home.”

Luffy grinned, rubbing comforting circles into Sanji’s back as he held him close.

“Of course I will. What do you think I’m here for?” he said, nudging the side of his face with his nose, “I'm here for you. I'm always here for you, just like you're always here for me.”

"Right," Sanji agreed easily, and Luffy finally felt something settle in his chest.

He had Sanji.

His cook was coming home.

Kaido was finally defeated, but Luffy was still feeling energetic, the burst energy from his latest transformation still running through him.

And there, on the ground, looking up at him with wide eyes, was his Sanji.

Luffy laughed as he reached out for him, dragging Sanji up into the air with him.

Sanji gripped his arms tight as he brought him close, his eyes somehow even bigger up here than on the ground, moving every which was as if trying to take in all of Luffy in this form, “L-Luffy?” He asked, as if he wasn’t sure.

“Of course,” Luffy grinned, content to just float through the air now that Sanji was with him.

“I…” he seemed at a loss for words, reaching out a tentative hand for him, and Luffy really really wanted him to touch him, “I don’t…you – your aura – feels different.”

“It’s some devil fruit stuff,” Luffy explained. He couldn’t stop staring at Sanji, at how shiny and beautiful he looked up here, “This is me at my freest.”

“But, uh,” he finally closed the distance between them, running his gloved hand through Luffy’s white hair, and Luffy twirled them in the air in his excitement, “It’s still you, right?”

“Of course,” he laughed, leaning back so he could look at his Sanji fully, “Who else would I be?”

Sanji laughed too, brushing his hair back so he could kiss his forehead.

“You’re warmer,” he murmured against the skin there, his hands moving down to hold his face gently.

“Is that a problem?”

“No,” he assured him, shifting so he could kiss his cheek next, “I can handle heat.”

“Good,” he grinned, little laughs escaping from his lips, “This wouldn’t be worth it if Sanji didn’t like it.”

Sanji pulled away, his thumb running over the scar under his eye, “I don’t think you could ever be anything I didn’t like.” His eyes ran over him again, “You’re shining. You look so beautiful like this.”

“Sanji’s shinier,” he insisted, his hand running through the blond hair, “Sanji’s prettier.”

Sanji laughed, “Agree to disagree, captain.”

Luffy smiled wider, even as he felt the last of his energy leave him, “Tired…gonna sleep…”

Sanji immediately grabbed his waist and turned them upright, using his Sky Walk to keep them airborne instead of his powers.

“Go ahead,” he said as he repositioned Luffy in his arms to hold him better, “I’ve got you.”

So Luffy fell asleep, knowing that his cook, his Sanji, would always be there to catch him.