Chapter Text
Sanji had picked up on things easily enough, but it was still fucking strange.
He was in another universe, as bizarre as it sounded. But he had learned a long time ago that anything was possible when his idiot captain was involved. The technology here was different, there were no pirates, and as far as he could tell marines were something different here. And, for some reason, he was a teenager again.
Sanji had guessed he was around eighteen, but far weaker than he had ever been at that age. And oh yeah, he lived with the old man who had yelled at him to 'get his ass to school.' Some things never changed, he supposed.
(It could have been worse; he could have been saddled with the Vinsmokes)
Fortunately, it seemed he lived close enough to the school that he could walk there. Not that sitting around in a classroom for hours was very appealing, but what choice did he have? Besides, this could be the best opportunity to see what kind of situation he was in.
And also confirm his hunch about that idiot swordsman. Because if he was right, Mosshead had been dragged back right alongside him. If there was a chance Luffy was here, Zoro would be right alongside him.
Sanji took his time walking to the school, taking in his surroundings. Those strange contraptions- cars, he somehow knew- whirled around him. He was sure that if he wasn't careful this weak body wouldn't be able to withstand a collision with one.
As he approached the school, he immediately spotted green hair. Mosshead. He was going to call out to him, but thought better of it. Just because he was here didn't mean Zoro was too. The idiot swordsman could be just as oblivious as the old man was.
But Sanji didn't have to worry. Zoro picked him out from the crowd with no trouble. "Oi, Curly-brow," he called out. "You know what the hell's going on?"
Sanji smacked his forehead in exaggeration. That answered that question.
~~~
It was probably frowned upon for a teenager to pull out a cigarette, not that Sanji gave a damn. With everything that was happening, he needed one. Besides, it must have been something that he did often in this world since his pocket contained a whole pack of them. "From what I can make of it I've either lost my damn mind or we're in some bizarre alternate universe," he explained as he took a drag.
"But why?" stressed Zoro, scratching his green hair. "None of this makes any damn sense. We were right there at Luffy's ex-" He choked on the words, heartbreak bleeding into his face.
Sanji winced in sympathy. Seeing their captain die in front of their faces had been... painful. More than that, more than words could describe. When Luffy had died, a part of Sanji- and probably all of Zoro- had died with him. Afterwards was a blur. Zoro had flown into a rage after that, instantly killing any Marine who dared come within an inch of him.
And Sanji had stood there, feeling like the world around him had stopped.
He still didn't recall exactly how he had died. He simply remembered indescribable pain and the anguish piercing his heart, then nothing before waking up in this world.
He scowled. "Hell if I know," he muttered, taking another drag. "Look, we should focus on finding Luffy and then go from there. Maybe if-"
"SANJI! ZORO!"
Sanji's brain shut off as it always did around a beautiful woman. The girl running towards them was short with messy dark hair and big, dark eyes. A smattering of freckles were laid across her nose and cheeks. There was something painstakingly familiar about her, but the part of his mind making that connection was instantly put on the backburner. All he could think of was how cute the girl was.
Zoro, though, tensed next to him.
The girl stopped in front of them, a large grin plastered on her face. "There you guys are!" she said cheerfully. Her voice resonated within him and he was temporarily brought out of his lovesick stupor. "Sorry I couldn't ride with you today, Zoro. Ace and Sabo dropped me off. Hope you didn't get lost, dummy!"
'Adorable- wait. Ace and Sabo?' It was at that moment that Sanji noticed the straw hat hanging lowly on the back of the girl's neck.
It clicked into place and Sanji felt horror wash over him, now understanding why the girl looked and sounded so familiar. Either their captain had a twin sister in this world or something was horribly wrong.
Zoro's eyes were somehow both completely blank and flooded with a myriad of emotions as he took a deep, ragged breath. No one- not even himself- could ever comprehend the bond Luffy and Zoro shared. They squabbled and bickered, but when it came down to it they were more in-sync than any two people Sanji had ever met. Zoro knew Luffy like the back of his hand and, despite being a directionally challenged moron, could pick him out from any crowd.
So it didn't surprise him that Zoro had recognized their captain immediately even through the facade in front of them.
"Luf-" But Mosshead stopped himself, as if the name was stale on his tongue. "Lucy." The correction was made but it sounded lost, hollow. As if Zoro himself couldn't wrap his head around it.
Try as he might, Sanji couldn't place that name on his captain. Luffy was Luffy, and anything other than that fact sounded fundamentally wrong.
But the girl continued to smile. "Yeah?" she asked innocently as she tilted her head to the side. Sanji winced; the action was so undeniably Luffy. It made the entire revelation even harder to swallow.
Sweat dripped down Zoro's temple before he shook his head. "Nothing," he replied, looking away.
Accepting that answer the girl, Lucy (God that sounded so wrong), turned her bright eyes on him and he tried his best not to shudder. "Sanji!" she whined, pouting in a way that just screamed Luffy. How many times had he been met with that very same pout?. "Do you have food? Ace rushed me and I didn't get to eat!"
The part of Sanji weirded out by seeing his dead captain as a girl and the part of Sanji that would do anything to please any woman clashed for a moment. In the end, the part of him that had always struggled to tell Luffy no prevailed. He searched his pockets where he found the granola bar he had grabbed just before he left Zeff's house.
(He tried not to think about the fact that he had grabbed it on a whim. Had it been intended for her all along?)
Sanji offered it to her. "Here, Luf- Lucy." Fuck, he couldn't do this.
Lucy immediately snatched it, ripping the package open and gobbling it down. "Thanks, Sanji," she said with her mouth full. Once she had swallowed the snack, she looked at the both of them with those dark eyes.
Sanji felt frozen to the floor. Luffy had been an idiot, no doubt. Reckless, thoughtless, and selfish. But there had always been moments- little ones- where he understood what was going on more than all of them. Sometimes it felt as though Luffy could see into people, see what they needed or what they were feeling.
It had always been unsettling and that feeling was tenfold on his female counterpart.
"You guys are being weird," she noted with another (adorable) pout. Sanji didn't have a response. Fortunately, he didn't need one.
Zoro shoved her hat on her head. "C'mon, moron," he murmured, tugging her down the hallway. "We're gonna be late, ain't we?" Normally, Sanji would have bit his head off for treating a lady in such a way. But right now, he was more than thankful for the idiot's intervention.
"Zoro, wait! This is the wrong way!"
"Hah? You sure?"
"YES!"
Sanji couldn't help but snicker, even though his heart felt like it was slowly being ripped out of his chest. Where the fuck were they supposed to go from here?