Chapter Text
Now that he had gotten a taste, Sanji craved more.
Was this anything like the hunger that plagued his captain? Completely insatiable, wanting more and more with each passing minute? Sanji couldn't get Lucy out of his head. While that wasn't out of the ordinary, it was different this time. He wanted to kiss her again, to hold her even tighter than he had that morning. He wanted to go even further, to caress soft freckled skin beneath his fingertips.
He was ashamed of these thoughts. Normally, he never hid his desires, but this was different. This was Lucy and, in some ways, Luffy. He had tried to resist thinking of his captain in that way for so long. But this kiss had opened a floodgate and now it was the only thing on his mind.
Sanji couldn't take his eyes off of her at lunch. She ate as she always did, devouring every piece of food in her path. She had beamed when he'd offered her extra food he had swiped from the Baratie, making his heart stutter in his chest. She then went back to eating, making a mess of her face and the table.
"Hey," she suddenly said, mouth full of food. "Where's Nami?"
Sanji was a little embarrassed to admit that he hadn't even noticed the redhead's absence. He was so engrossed with Lucy that he hadn't been aware of anything outside of her really. That included the teen variations of his crew.
Vivi bit her lip, looking a bit worried. "She's sick," she revealed. "She has a pretty nasty fever. Nojiko thinks she'll be out for the rest of the week."
Lucy's fork clattered against the floor.
Sanji's attention flicked to her immediately. Her face had gone pale, her eyes staring a Vivi with a particularly anxious, afraid look in them. "Nami's... sick?" she repeated, voice hollow. Her hands began to tremble.
Mosshead, who was next to her, was the first to react. "Luce?" he asked tentatively, shaking her slightly. She didn't respond, it was like she hadn't heard him. "Lucy!"
It took Sanji a little too long to figure out what was happening. But he quickly pulled her up by her arm, leading her out into the hallway, Zoro following close behind. Thankfully, it was vacant, but that did nothing to calm her down. "Lucy, sweetheart," he said as gently as he could. "Can you hear me?" Nothing. Even though he was meeting her eyes, it was like she was seeing through him.
Zoro none too gently shoved him out of the way. "Lucy," he hissed. When he didn't get an answer, he pinched her. Hard. Sanji was about to bite his head off, only to be stopped by, "Dammit, Lucy, you have to breathe!"
Some time in the seconds between finding out Nami was sick and being pulled into the hallway, Lucy had stopped breathing. And he hadn't even realized it.
But Mosshead's pinch seemed to do the trick. She gasped, chest rising with the air she took in. Color slowly returned to her face, but the horror was still in her eyes. "N-Nami," she tried.
"She's fine," said Zoro gruffly. "Just a fever. She'll be okay."
But Lucy shook her head like she couldn't believe him. "No, no-" But she cut herself off, shaking her head and grabbing her bare arms like...
Sanji startled. Like she was cold.
He remembered that day. How could he forget? Not only had they almost lost Nami for good, Luffy had damn near killed himself trying to get the two of them to Kureha. They had met their wonderful little doctor, but Sanji remembered how astonished he had been knowing his captain had scaled the entire mountain in that unforgiving cold. Just for them, for his nakama.
Yes, Sanji remembered. And judging by the look on her face, Lucy was starting to as well.
~~~
The three of them skipped next period. They didn't leave the school, though, opting to lounge in the courtyard. Despite it being reasonably warm, Lucy still insisted she was cold. Sanji had immediately shrugged off his jacket and draped it over her. She had wrapped herself in it before laying her head in Zoro's lap and resting her legs in his.
Sanji took a long drag of his cigarette as he eyed Mosshead. "You know what this means, right?" he asked idly, trying to stay calm.
Zoro's gray eyes were stormy. "She had a memory," he answered. "She might not know what it means, but she's remembering." He tugged at his green hair. "But that can't be possible. If Lucy really is Luffy, then why didn't she wake up with her memories like us?"
The blond had no idea. "I had a memory from this world's Sanji," he revealed. "Before the thing with Bellamy happened. It was short, but it told me how I- er- he first met Lucy. Maybe the same thing's happening to her, but in reverse?"
The shitty swordsman glared. "Why didn't you tell me this sooner?" he demanded.
Sanji shrugged. "I forgot." He had been much more concerned with Bellamy harassing his angel, thank you very much. "Nothing like that's happened to you?"
Zoro shook his head. His eyes roamed down to where the girl was sleeping and his gazed softened as he ran his fingers through her hair. Sanji tried not to feel jealous at the action. "Do you really think the Captain's in there?"
The cook grimaced. He really didn't want to go there. It was a wish he had tried his best to ignore. To even dare to hope that their captain was with them was foolish, not to mention unfair. He loved Lucy and he loved Luffy and he needed to keep them separate in his heart. It was unfair to both of them to lump them together.
Easier said than done.
"Doesn't matter," he settled on, resting his hand on the thigh on his lap. He had always found Luffy's strong, toned legs attractive and that didn't change with Lucy. He wondered what they'd feel like wrapped around his-
Zoro smacked him upside the head. "Damn pervert," he spat, glaring. "Don't think I don't know what you're up to."
Normally, an argument would break out. This time, Sanji smirked. "You mean the same thing you're doing?" he retorted, feeling smug when the swordsman visibly blushed. He had noticed it all day. Zoro had been looking at her with nothing less than love in his eyes and Lucy seemed to be in a better mood than usual prior to lunch.
Something had happened between them.
Ordinarily Sanji would be jealous and a big part of him was. But he was also excited at the challenge. Did that shitty swordsman really think he could out-woo him? Impossible.
Much to his satisfaction, Zoro didn't have a rebuttal. "Shut up, shit cook." First point was his, then.