Honey, Are You Coming? - Sanji Vinsmoke

EPILOGUE

Deep down, Rius knew his daughter would leave with the straw hats.

And how could he blame her? It's rare to find that special someone so early in life, Rius was well aware. He was lucky enough to have found Hanita when he was 21 and she was 18, giving them more time before she was so cruelly ripped away from life and from the love of her life, leaving a behind a scarred man and a confused baby that would grow up to be a spitting image of her mother. It would be different if they met when they were ten years older, barely giving them enough time to see the world together and learning how to love, but they had the opportunity to do all that and oh, how they loved each other.

So how could Rius ever judge his daughter for following her heart?

At first he couldn't understand why Mion felt the need to run away,  Rius barely read through the letter that he was presented with by Mirianne, too hurt by his daughter's actions that he completely missed the point why she had to leave in the first place. It took him a few days full of pacing and shouting at Mirianne to fully read through it and it had him break down in the middle of the day, sobbing late into the day until Mirianne forced him to bathe and eat.

To give up hope he'd ever see her again was not an option for the man, for weeks on end he prayed to whatever higher power was listening in, waited for his daughter to walk in through the doors like nothing ever happened, that was until even Mirianne and Callista accepted that it may never happen again, with a heavy heart.

Rius remembered the conversation he had with Mirianne when she caught him wide awake in the middle of the night. It was rather a heated monologue directed at the man that felt useless and ashamed that he drove his daughter away. Rius couldn't sleep, nor eat properly until the maid took matters into her own hands. He remembered it like it was barely hours ago. The way she shook his shoulders and spoke some sense into him was like a wake up call for him.

"Rius, you need to stop pitying yourself. With all due respect, this is not about you. It's about Mion and she deserves to see the world. You raised her, you should know better than any of us that she is strong and that she can handle herself. You have to believe in her and move on"

The moment he saw her again should've been the happiest moment of Rius' life and instead he ruined it by letting himself be blinded by his anger — that was directed at himself most of all. The moment he saw her again was the moment he finally realized the urgency behind the words that she had written and it was the day Rius realized he had let his daughter growing up pass him by.

If he could, he would change a lot about how he treated her, he would've given her explanations for his behaviour, he would've voiced his worries so that she would understand and maybe he would've taken her with her again after finding a solution together, but then again, Rius could see that Mion needed this to find herself and he couldn't be prouder of who she had become.

Her development during their time apart had shown Rius that she was more like him than he originally believed. But his development started when she was back, bringing home her friends that Rius must admit he wasn't a fan of at all.

The time they spent together, the laughter and the sight of Mion being the happiest her father had seen her in a while are all things that made Rius change his view on certain aspects of life, all thanks to his daughter.

That's how he found himself stepping foot inside the Baratie for the first time, having heard about it from Mion and Sanji. It took the man a few days to finally make the decision to visit his old friend.

A feeling of shame surged through the man at the sight of the well visited restaurant, feeling guilty for never having reached out to Zeff after their falling out. With the reputation Rius Otis held, it wasn't difficult to find someone to lead him to the man he once believed would be by his side for a long time.

At the sight of a remorseful looking Rius, Zeff ordered his cooks and waiters out the kitchen, closing it down for an indefinite time. For once, Zeff didn't care about his guests or how much he earned, for now he was focused on the man in front of him.

"Tell me she got home safely", Zeff asked, worried about the reason behind the man's sudden appearance. He held his breath waiting for Rius's reply, secretly hoping he could tell him about Sanji as well. He longed to hear of the blonde haired boy he raised like his own son.

"She did. They did. But... they left again", Rius acknowledged the man's worry, having heard about their complicated backstory when he took the male crew members to get suits.

That was enough for Zeff to let out the breath he was holding, a relieved smile hushing over his lips before his serious expression returned, waiting for Rius's next words.

"I came here to apologise. You were right, all this time you were right and I was blinded by fear over something that never took place. I owe you way more than an apology and it's been a long time coming, but I hope you can accept it nonetheless", Rius finally spoke after gathering the courage to and he was surprised when Zeff took a step forward to hug him.

"Let's start with Mion's childhood after I left, I would love to hear about it, old friend", Zeff spoke as his expression lightened, much to Rius relief. The man let out a slight chuckle before agreeing with a slight nod, following Zeff into a corner booth that was placed in the kitchen.

"If I remember correctly you prefer white?", Zeff questioned after walking back over from the alcohol cabinet, both a bottle of white and red wine in his hands. Rius just nodded with a tight lipped smile.

"And I see you stuck with the red wine", Rius acknowledged the bottle of red wine, knowing that it was the same one Zeff liked to drink from all those years ago.

"You see, old habits die hard", the bearded man replied and suddenly the two men found themselves laughing and talking for hours on end, like nothing ever happened.

The end. ?.

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UNEDITED