Guess which mother-f-er decided to start another fanfic instead of finishing the other ones first?

…

This mother-f-er, that's who.

...

*cough* moving on. This fic is inspired by the lovely maplebars art! I suggest you check it out on tumblr!

Disclaimer: I own nothing but my two hands to type this.

Sanji scratched irritably at the collar of his suit. It was abnormally hot today and it was just the right temperature for it to be incredibly uncomfortable to wear anything that has long sleeves or collars. Or black. Sanji sighed through his nose. He felt like he was slowly dying of heatstroke and he's starting to feel the beginnings of a rash that's probably going to spread. Sanji winced as one of his movements agitated his neck. Yep, definitely going to spread. Lovely.

Sanji screamed internally, glaring at the wall quite harshly because he needed to blame something for his misery. Seriously, if the world wasn't filled with judgemental assholes he wouldn't have this problem. But the world is filled with judgemental assholes. So he does have this problem. Shhh let him be petty.

"Sanji! Stop slacking off and get your lazy ass back to work!" A sudden scream snapped Sanji out of his thoughts. He re-aimed his glare to the cook who screamed at him and flipped the cook off before returning his attention back to the current seafood dish he was working on. That was spicy. With the fire was slowly licking at his skin. The next step was to flambé it. And he was done with this shit.

He quickly finished off the dish and turned the stove to low so it would be ready for the next person to use and washed his hands. As he passed the man who he considered a father he quickly made some hand gestures to the older man.

'I'm taking a break. I'm going to take a dip in the ocean.' All he got was a nod in reply and Sanji let out a slight breath of relief. He was not in the mood to argue with the old man in this heat.

Sanji quickly went to his room and changed into his swimming trunks and sun shirt, applying a bit of ointment onto his rash and dove into the cool water the moment he reached the deck of the Baratie.

Sanji sighed happily as he felt the cool water wash away the sweat he had been building for the whole day, as he opened his eyes and swam through the reef, occasionally biting playfully at some fish with his sharp teeth. His sharp shark teeth.

Sanji looked around the ocean with his strange round black eyes with a slight blue tinge that were definitely not human. He grinned toothily as he lazily swam in the blue water. It was only when he was by himself and in the water when he was completely himself and relaxed. No one staring at him like he was a monster, no one looking at him like he was no better than the dirt they walk on, just him and the ocean.

Being a half-breed means having shit thrown at you every day. Especially when your half-breed is half human and half fishman, with the one of the races thinking they're more superior then the other. Having of the blood of both races seems to be hard for others to swallow so basically Sanji's whole existence fucks with people. Neither human nor fishman. Or able to fit in.

Sanji frowned slightly, mood souring, before shaking himself of the depressing thoughts and continued swimming. It didn't take long for him to be completely relaxed again.

Sanji started moving his tongue around, checking for any loose teeth, spitting out the ones that had fallen out after a little bit of probing, the teeth slowly sinking to the ocean floor. That's one problem with being a shark. Constantly loosing teeth was annoying, but at least it grows back fast enough that it won't bother his meals. Well, at least it won't bother him, can't say the same for his meal.

A sudden movement caught his eye and he turned around face to face with a Seaking. Sanji stared blandly at the creature. It looked like a mutant of a cow, a fish and a sea lion and so far, according to Sanji, despite its efforts to look menacing, was failing miserably in the scary department. It actually looked kinda cute; it almost made him feel bad to hurt the creature. Almost.

All it took was one hard kick to the skull before the creature got the message, swimming away and crying pitifully, leaving Sanji alone again. He decided to check how far away he swam from the Baratie this time and surfaced again, making sure to close his gills and switch to lungs. His head bobbed up and down with the waves and Sanji realised he may have swum further than expected, as the floating restaurant was nowhere in sight.

Ah, this is bad. Old fart's gonna be mad. Sanji scratched his head and was about to dive back under the water when he realised he wasn't that far away from an island.

Sanji stared. It definitely seemed like an interesting one, if that's to put it kindly. He saw a massive temple with large metal gates not on the island but actually in the sea. To top it off there was even a wall surrounding it. On the temple were the words Arlong Park.

Well someone sure is full of themselves. Sanji thought sizing up the whole estate, unimpressed. I will never understand why people think that it's necessary to have a whole buildings and islands named after them. Who do they think they are? God?... Apparently so.

Sanji rolled his eyes and was about to dip back under the surface of the ocean when he heard a deep gravelly voice that made the hair on the back of his neck stand.

"Going out again Nami?"

"Of course, don't think I forgot our deal, Arlong." Came a female voice this time. She has a light and sweet voice but it had cold undertone that made Sanji frown. Something's not right with her, human or fishman(woman?) a lady's a lady and Sanji's natural instinct to help her rose up.

Curiosity getting the better of him he swam towards the brick wall surrounding the 'park' and dipped back underwater. He looked around for any gaps in the wall and found none. He shrugged and kicked a giant hole into the wall and swam across to the other side. Immediately he came face to face with several fishmen, who stared at him shock for a moment before their eyes hardened and each drew out a nasty looking cutlass.

Shit. Sanji thought dryly. Approximately 5 minutes later all fishmen were lying unconscious on the ocean floor. Sanji only stared at them blankly, floating only slightly above the unconscious and sighed disappointedly. Geez, I was expecting them to be stronger. That was boring.

Back to the original task, Sanji swam up towards the surface and silently raised half of his face out of the water. He looked up at the raised platform out of the ocean and saw the back of young human woman with short, mikan coloured hair. She was wearing a white shirt with blue stripes and a short orange skirt with ring patterns decorating the sides. Her body was hiding whoever she was talking to so unless Sanji wanted to risk getting caught he had to stay low. He'll make do with a grey blob for the other voice.

"Our deal, of course. How could I forget? To buy your village back no matter how long it takes you." A different voice spoke and seemed to be leering. The girl… Nami was it? At least that what he heard, visibly tensed.

"And you intend to keep it, won't you Arlong?" Nami clipped out.

Sanji frowned. Arlong? Where have I heard that name before…?

"Why yes, I would never break a deal about money." By then Sanji learned the leery tone was just the default voice of this 'Arlong' and Sanji did not like it. It set his teeth on edge. A grey blob that was misshapen and ugly suited this voice perfectly, Sanji concluded.

"Hmph." Was all he had as a warning to duck back under water when Nami suddenly turned around. Had he been any slower he would have been right in the line of sight of the mikan-haired girl. That was close.

Sanji looked down at the defeated fishmen and decided it was probably best to leave before someone finds him. He swam out of his self-made hole and swam around to the other side of the island. He broke the surface of the ocean after what he believed was a safe distance away and sighed. Well that was interesting… and also taking up way too much time I need to get back to the Baratie now.

As he was about to dive back under the surface he heard a gasp behind him. Sanji froze and slowly turned around. Staring at straight at him or more specifically, his gills, was the mikan-haired girl, Nami. She was staring at him with wide eyes, freezing halfway through her packing for her next voyage. Sanji could only stare back and sheepishly waved in hello.

To say Nami was surprised was an understatement. At first when she heard the splash she thought it was just another fishman to harass her but when she actually looked up she saw a human man. Well at least human until she took a closer inspection. The human man had gills. Humans weren't supposed to have gills. But he wasn't a fishman, that much Nami was sure about. Neither human or fishman so…what was he?

I should have worn something that covered up more. Sanji thought, slightly panicking as Nami continued to stare. What should I do? She's been quiet for a while… maybe I should swim away before she says anything.

Nami snapped out of her stupor when she noticed the blond haired…man? Began to slip under the surface.

"Ah wait!" Nami called out right before Sanji completely slipped away. "Who are you?"

Sanji froze and slowly emerged from the water again. Shit. Well great, I can't ignore her now, she's a lady, it would be rude to leave while she's trying to talk to me. Wait, oh yeah that's right, I can't talk, not unless I want to scare the living daylights out of her, which I don't.

As Sanji was deciding what's his best course of action Nami began to observe him more closely now that she calmed down after her initial shock. He looked nothing like the fishmen in the Arlong Pirates. While even the smallest member of Arlong Pirates was remotely taller than most average sized humans, the strange fish-man was most definitely the height of a man. He was frowning slightly, with his head slightly cocked like he was thinking really hard about something. Well he doesn't seem dangerous. Nami thought.

He was only wearing swimming trunks with a loose short-sleeved shirt, exposing a fair amount of skin that was pale. Extremely pale, it looked downright inhuman and unhealthy but… despite that, he had a strong build and Nami can obviously see the defined muscles on the lean body that suggested anything but weak. He looked human but some features obviously…weren't. He had strange curly eyebrows but they were the most normal out of all the strange features Nami could see. His eyes, for instance; while were the size of normal human eyes, rarely blinked and the pupils were huge, with only a thin circle of bright blue encircling it. His ears were slightly pointed and had a slight grey tone at the ends. When blonde fish person lifted his hands out of the water Nami could see a small amount of webbing between his fingers. Then he started doing weird gestures with his hands and Nami could only stare back in confusion. Huh?

Sanji decided to check if the girl, Nami, knew sign language. And judging by the confused look on her face probably meant she had no idea what the hell he was doing and is starting to think there is a very high chance that Sanji was a lunatic. Sanji sunk half his face in the ocean and released a breath of exasperation, the air escaping into little bubbles that gurgled the moment it reached the surface.

When the strange fish-man began gurgling underwater Nami stared. Is he alright? Nami sweat dropped. Weird.

It could be the annoyed look on his face or the fact he was doing such a childish action but Nami started to giggle. Soon she was laughing the most she had in years, whether it was because of so many years spent in solitude and misery had finally cracked her or some other deranged reason she didn't care. She just threw her head back and laughed.

Sanji only stared up at her in surprise. Normally when people catch a glimpse of his other unhuman features they would either recoil in disgust or scream in fear. To see this girl laughing… it felt refreshing. Soon Sanji found himself smiling as well and now both were laughing for no apparent reason, one was clutching her stomach on a small dingy little boat while the other was floating in his swimwear, trying hard not to accidently choke on seawater. After several minutes of laughing for no apparent reason, Nami finally calmed down and wiped away her tears of mirth, before looking down back at the fish-man in the water still smiling.

"So I'm guessing you can't speak?" Nami asked. The fish-man gave a shrug and did a so-so gesture with his hand.

"…You don't want to speak?" Nami guessed. Sanji gave a thumbs up in confirmation. "Why?"

Sanji frowned and attempted to act out what he wanted to say. Nami tried to interpret what he was trying to tell her but in the end she shook her head. "This is ridiculous, I'll go get a pen and paper."

Sanji only smiled in relief that he didn't have to do a bad game of charades.

"So, first let's introduce ourselves." Nami gestured to herself. "I'm Nami. I am a thief who only steals from pirates."

Sanji raised an eyebrow in interest at the peculiar introduction. He began scribbling on the notepad that Nami had gotten him, leaning against the side of the boat with his arms dangling on the other side of the railing.

-I'm Sanji, first-rate cook of the sea. It is a pleasure to meet a lovely lady as you Miss Nami.-

"Ho~ bit of a lady charmer, aren't you?" Nami smiled when Sanji gently took one her hands and placed a chaste kiss on the back. "Nice to meet you too, Sanji-kun."

Sanji blinked slightly at the honorific in surprise but smiled brightly. It made Nami wonder how the blonde man was being treated usually if hearing an honorific added to his name made him this happy.

"So…you going to tell me why you refuse to speak?" Nami decided to prod. Sanji immediately lost the smile and gained a troubled expression. He quickly scribbled again.

-People tend to be rather startled when I talk.-

"Why?" Nami inquired after skimming through the neat print.

-As you can tell, I'm not entirely human and some people find my unhuman features unpleasant and that's putting it nicely. One in particular is rather disturbing for them.-

"Can you show me? I promise I won't over react." Nami promised. "I'm a girl of my word."

Sanji hesitated and quickly wrote something down.

-Are you sure?-

"How bad could it be? You have gills and rather strange ears and eyes. People might find it strange but I don't see how that can scare-ok never mind." Nami cut herself off when Sanji parted his mouth slightly, his rows of sharp deadly teeth on display. "I see why now."

Sanji grimly shut his mouth and nodded in agreement. He was surprised through; he was expecting the girl to jump back in shock but all she did was widen her eyes slightly. Then again judging by the temple she just came from she's probably used to sharp teeth. That place was teeming with fishmen.

"Um, are you willing to talk now?" Nami asked kindly. "You don't have to if you don't want to."

Sanji frowned slightly. He can't remember the last time he actually talked out loud. He usually communicates via sign language with the rest of the chefs and the old geezer. He could talk to the chefs but it got exhausting after a while and the old fart wasn't one much for conversation. Sometimes if he was lucky he could converse with a deaf customer every now and then but not many people bother to learn sign and he can't use his voice.

"It's fine if you don't want to, we can communicate with pen and paper." Nami quickly conveyed, taking Sanji's slight frown as a no.

"Ah, no it's fine we can talk." Sanji spoke softly, wincing slightly at the cracking of his voice. "I just…haven't used my voice in a long time that's all."

Nami blinked in surprise at the soft low baritone that Sanji possessed. She was expecting something higher pitched since he looked he was still in his teens but instead she heard a much lower voice of an adult man. His voice reminded Nami of those jazz singers at a party she raided from once. It wasn't amazing but it was…comforting. It reminded her of times of Nojiko supporting her when things got too heavy. Nami quickly shook thoughts of home from her mind.

"So is there a reason why you have these features?" Nami decided to ask. "Were you born like this?"

"…I was born this way, yes." Sanji replied after a slight pause. Sanji lowered his eyes and began twiddling his thumbs and sighed. "I'm half human and half…fishman."

Nami widened her eyes before lowering her head to process the information. Half human and half fishman? That was new. She's never heard of it, or even thought it was biologically possible. Or mentally. Nami thought all fishmen hated humans, likewise with humans hating fishmen. The two species never got along. Nami got first-hand experience of these interactions. The reminder of that day made her unconsciously reach for her shoulder before lowering her hand back down. Half human and half fishman…huh? Seems like something that would put you through a lot of shit. Nami clenched her hand into a fist and smiled bitterly. Looks like I found a buddy in 'I have a fucked up life' department.

Sanji refused to make eye contact with Nami. He didn't want to see the disgusted look on her face after finding out he had the blood of a hated species in his veins. It was fun meeting someone who wasn't terrified by his looks, but Sanji knew the moment they learned why he had these features they would immediately never want to come in contact with him again. He's experienced it way too many times. The same look of disgust of what he was. Never who he was.

"…Well that explains the fish features. I'm guessing shark?" Sanji snapped his head up at this. The moment he looked up the first thing he saw was the smile on Nami's face. It was sad, but it had a feel of acceptance. Acceptance. Of all the reactions he was expecting that was the least, it didn't even cross his mind.

"Blue shark to be exact." Sanji went on auto mode. He was being accepted. He wasn't being judged by what he was. He was being accepted. He was being accepted by another person!

"Why?" Sanji suddenly blurted out.

"Why what?" Nami asked rhetorically, raising an eyebrow. "That I don't care about what your genes are?"

Sanji nodded and Nami quietly spoke, "You never asked to be born this way, so why should I add onto the pain? I know what it's like to be hated by everyone. I have a whole village to prove it."

Nami sighed. "I'm worse than you. People might hate you for what you are but those people are just blockheads who are afraid of change. There are people who don't hate you as a person, am I right?"

Images of Zeff and the other chefs flashed through Sanji's head. Before he could say anything else Nami continued.

"There are people who like you for you, not for what you are. That's not the case for me." Nami gripped her shoulder this time, her skin going white underneath her sleeve from the pressure. Her mark of shame. Permanently imbedded in her skin in purple. "It won't matter if I was human, fishman or some other weird creature. What I did was unforgivable and that makes me the worst person there is in their eyes."

Before she knew it everything poured out. All out in a relentless rush, all the pent up frustrations, fear, sadness, anger, misery; Nami said it all. From Bellemere's death, to joining the Arlong Pirates and making the deal of buying her village back. Nami was slowly going into hysterics as she finished talking. "To them those fishmen had ruined our lives and I went and betrayed them. They killed her right in front of my eyes and theirs and I went and joined them. They all probably think I'm the worst scum alive and will never forgive me no matter what. A WHOLE VILLAGE HATES ME! A whole village of people I love and grew up with hates me! And now I've gone and told everything to a stranger! 13 years of keeping it all in and the person I dump everything on is a stranger! Why… why…I…"

Nami began to sob, curling in on herself. Sanji was frozen. He didn't know what to do, he's had episodes before and usually when that happens only the old man could touch him. If anyone else tried he would lash out; biting, screaming and crying. He didn't know if it was the same for Nami.

"They took everything... absolutely everything." Nami sobbed. With that Sanji swooped over the edge of the boat and scooped Nami up into a hug, the boat swaying with the momentum. Nami, after a moment's hesitation hugged back. She didn't even register that she was getting wet, she just clung onto Sanji's sun shirt and cried, with Sanji rubbing her back in soothing circles. After a few minutes, Nami finally quietened down and pushed herself out of Sanji's embrace and harshly rubbed away the remaining of her tears.

"I'm sorry about that, forget anything you heard me say, it never happened." Nami shadowed her eyes with her fringe. Sanj opened his mouth but before he could say anything Nami spoke again. "Please."

The small plead made Sanji's mouth snap shut. He also lowered his eyes and slid back into the water. after a few moments of silence, he spoke up again.

"Nami-swan." Said girl looked up at the strange honorific. "Talking with you has been very enjoyable, I can't remember the last time I had a conversation like this."

After he composed himself he gave Nami a huge smile, teeth and all. "If you would ever like to meet again, come to the Baratie!"

And with that he was gone.

One year later

Again? Sanji thought as he woke up in his bed. He reached over to his bedside table, scuffling around before finally finding his target. He gave a sigh of relief and automatically lit a cigarette. Taking in a huge drag, he slowly breathed out a swirl of toxic smoke. I wonder how Nami-swan is doing.

It's been a year since he's met Nami. For the past year he paid her home island little visits, each time he left behind a small pile of money and other earnings. He's never met the redhead face to face again but he knew she was getting his offerings since every time he went back to the spot where he put his offerings was always empty.

After Sanji had returned back to the Baratie that day, after getting an earful from Zeff he went through all the wanted posters that were collected from every News Coo. Soon he found what he wanted. ARLONG 20,000,000 beri bounty. A big shot for East Blue. Little Miss Cat's gonna need all the luck she can get.

Ever since he came back that day the chefs noticed him staring off into space a lot more often than usual. Every time they ask him what happened he always gave them the same answer.

"I met a little cat."

In the end the chefs gave up but the ones that knew him for longer still bought it up every now and then but all Sanji would do is smile slightly and tell them the same thing.

Over the year somewhere at the back of Sanji's mind he would always find it worrying about the ginger cat burglar. Before Sanji knew it he started seeing her as a younger sister, despite only having one conversation with her. Hearing what happened to her made it impossible for Sanji to feel anything else but a sense of protection towards her. Or any women really, he's just can't see himself sullying a lady without feeling a sense of wrongness. Either way, he hopes that next time the two meet it will be under nicer circumstances.

"Oi! Sanji! Wake up, you lazy ass!" A banging sounded on his door, shocking Sanji awake from his half asleep state and thoughts. He scowled at the door and threw his pillow at it as an answer. It landed with an audible poof before sliding harmlessly down to the floor. After several years of being greeted like this in the morning you would think one would get used to it. They do, but it doesn't mean it isn't any less annoying.

Sanji dragged himself from the warmth of his blankets and began to make a half-assed attempt to get ready quickly.

"Hurry up!" Bellowed the voice who woke him up.

Sanji scowled and flipped at the door despite the fact the cook on the other side can't see it. You know, telling me to go faster like that is just motivating me to go slower. Sanji thought, irked, as he finished tying his tie and made sure his hair was in place before giving a small, unconvincing, closed lipped smile. I have a feeling today's going to be exhausting…

Barely even reaching 11 o'clock in the morning Sanji heard a loud boom erupt right above the restaurant on the second floor, rocking the boat dangerously. As Sanji was calming down a few customers he stared up in confusion at the sudden silence that followed the chaos. What on earth…?

Not even 15 minutes later, the Old Fart along with some other person fell through the roof into the restaurant causing yet another ruckus. Sanji was starting to feel a headache merging at the front of his brain with all the random shenanigans that happened within a span of 20 minutes.

Yep. Sanji sighed as he stared at the weird teenager who picked himself up from the rubble, laughing. Today is going to be extremely exhausting.

Sooo~ how was it? Tell me what you think in reviews please!

-Kagu-chan