Straw Hat Luffy: The Black Fist

Chapter 15: Cannonballs and Raindrops

Chapter 15: Cannonballs and Raindrops

Luffy, Zoro, and Nami walked up to the front door of the Baratie yawning and still trying to wake up. The sun had barely risen over the horizon in the east and the moon was still visible in the slowly brightening sky.

"I slept amazing!", Luffy exclaimed, stretching his sleepy muscles out as they walked the wooden deck.

Zoro couldn't help but agree with his future captain's sentiment. The Merry was very homey and a great place to sleep. "Your snoring doesn't even bother me when I sleep on that ship.", the swordsman teased.

Luffy turned to his green-haired friend in mock outrage, "Zoro! How could you?! I do not snore!".

His two companions lightly laughed at the humor in his voice.

It was strange, but Nami agreed with the two boys. She didn't say anything as her laughs petered out, however, she couldn't deny the fact that since she'd been on the boat... She hadn't had a single nightmare. The girl looked over at the two boys, now conversing between themselves, and smiled. She'd been with them for close to a month now and couldn't help but think maybe they also had something to do with her lack of nightmares. A part of her wondered if the bad dreams would come back when they separated...

Separate... Nami shook her head to rid herself of the thought. She couldn't deal with all the conflicting feelings right now, it was too early.

The three companions reached the door and Luffy wasted no time in pushing it open, softly this time.

"Welcome to the Bara-", the teen paused when he saw who was coming into the restaurant. Sanji quickly shouldered past the two boys, rushing to Nami's side and kneeling before her. "Nami-Swannn!", the blond chef exclaimed, hearts taking over his eyes, "Your beauty shines especially bright this fine morning. It looks like you slept well!".

Luffy laughed as he jumped up and down excitedly. He REALLY wanted Sanji to go with them. "So you're coming, right?!", he asked the young chef, immediately cutting to the chase.

Sanji looked away from a smiling Nami and to the straw-hatted boy, standing from his crouched position. He took a moment to gather his thoughts before replying. "Yes.", he said simply.

Luffy hooped and hollered in joy. He just knew he was gonna get him on the crew!

"I'm only staying until we get Nami that treasure.", the blond added.

The straw-hatted teen immediately stopped and his celebration turned into a pout. "No fairrr.", he moaned.

The blond chef crossed his arms, "Well, that's the deal. If you don't like it I'll just sta-".

"Shut the hell up and get outta here, brat. I told you, ya weren't workin' this morning... You got places to be.", came a gruff voice from behind them.

Sanji turned and the other three looked over his shoulder to see Chef Zeff standing in the doorway to the kitchen. "You three bring him back in one piece, now. Or don't... I don't really care.", the old man waved them off and turned to walk back into the kitchen. There was prep that needed to be done and with Sanji gone... "Patty! Carne! Get your asses up and in the kitchen!", the man yelled.

"I'll be back in a month, Geezer.", Sanji said to the retreating man, giving his back a hard stare, "And as of right now, I'm coming back as your sous chef.".

The old chef said nothing, simply waving his hand in dismissal as he continued into the kitchen.

Sanji scoffed and turned to the three people he would be calling crew mates for the next little while, eyes drifting over each one of them. It would certainly be interesting that was for sure. "Let's get outta here. I already prepped everything I'll need for the journey.", the blond said, walking through the group to the door. "Oh...", he turned as he grasped the handle and sent Luffy a big smile, "And thanks for having me on board.".