Smoker had heard the rumours for a while now, a tiny restaurant that catered to anyone willing to pass by. And those people were mostly pirates, considering the restaurant's position at the base of Reverse Mountain. Maybe he should pay it a visit, make sure the cooks weren't causing any trouble.

When Sanji walked out of the kitchen, he was surprised to see a Marine sitting at the counter. That probably explained the slow day. The ship would scare off any pirates.

"I thought Marines didn't use Reverse Mountain," Sanji said casually.

The Marine looked up, "I've heard rumors about this place. Had to check it out for myself." He adjusted the unlit cigar in his mouth.

"Yeah? Well, you're scaring off my customers." Sanji said. "Besides, I've done nothing here that would warrant a visit from a Vice Admiral."

"You've got tons of pirate flags handing all over and inside your building."

"Is it my fault that passing pirates hand their flags on my walls?" Sanji asked. "I'm not going to take them down."

"Then you picked a bad place to build a restaurant."

Sanji chuckled and shook his head. "This is a perfect place. I chose it for a reason."

The Vice Admiral smirked briefly, and then sighed. "What drinks do you have?"

Sanji raised an eyebrow, but retrieved several bottles from under the counter. "What are you really doing here, Smoker?" He asked as Smoker grabbed one of the bottles and uncorked it.

The Marine looked around the bottle and took a large gulp before answering. "I doubt you're going to leave this place any time soon."

Sanji nodded. "I've had my adventures. And I'm good at keeping secrets." He added the last part a bit hesitantly, wondering if their long time enemy was willing to part with what was bothering him.

Smoker snorted, "Refuge."

"From the Marines?" Sanji was mildly surprised.

"Yeah." Smoker trailed off in a sigh, his gaze locking on something behind Sanji. "But…"

Sanji retrieved the wanted poster Smoker had been staring at and placed it in front of him. "You're looking for him, right?"

"How did you know that?"

Sanji sat down and opened a drawer, pulling out a dusty pack of cigarettes. Thane was trying to get him to quit, but the cook figured this was a good time to have one. "It's not exactly a secret. You and him were rivals, right?"

"Heh," Smoker laughed, and it echoed faintly in the half empty bottle. "Even people from the New Era know."

"I'm not part of this new generation," Sanji said. "I'm older than Strawhat."

Smoker nodded, "How much do you know?"

"I know you have a lovely lady as your second in command."

"Not anymore," Smoker shook his head. "I don't know what happened to her."

"What?"

The restaurant was empty, and it seemed like the Marine wanted to get some things off his chest. So he began to talk about his life, the things that inspired him to become a Marine. Sanji listened patiently, a talent he had picked up through the years.

"When we caught Roronoa–"

"I still can't believe you caught the moss head." Sanji muttered.

"He escaped, the same night Tashigi disappeared. That's an interesting name for him."

Sanji sighed, "Well, I'm sure we would have heard about it if he was executed. I mean, Usopp's death was in the papers."

"It's not every day that an Emperor is caught. But…" He glanced down at the wanted poster, the grinning face mocking him even after all these years. "I shouldn't be saying this…"

"I used to be a pirate," Sanji deadpanned. "No one's going to listen to me. No one important anyway."

"That's true." He continued with his story, explaining Tashigi's strange behavior and then the morning they both were discovered missing.

"They ran off together," Sanji said offhandedly.

"Maybe…" The old Marine said.

"You should think of retirement soon, Smoker," Sanji said.

Smoker shook his head, "Not until the Pirate King is caught. I swore to myself I would die trying."

Sanji cleared the empty bottle from the counter as Smoker rested a hand on his chin. "You're going to have to look elsewhere if you want to find Luffy."

"You know where he is?"

Sanji pinned Luffy's wanted poster back to the cork board and nodded.

"Can you tell me?" The request was unexpected. Sanji was expecting a demand.

"He's…" Sanji ran a hand through his greying hair. Looking at Smoker, who was watching him with an expectant gaze, he said, "He's home."

"He's home? You mean East Blue?"

"Yes. On the island he was born on."

"And where is that?"

"A place only his friends know. Although, I suppose he considered you a friend. He liked you."

"Don't be absurd."

"I'm not joking." Sanji said. "You were at Usopp's execution, right? You know who he is."

"An Emperor. Did he and Strawhat have an alliance?"

"Nope. Think. You know Usopp before he set out on his own. You know me too."

"No I don't." Smoker insisted.

Sanji laughed, nodding. "You do. Loguetown. Alabasta. Punk Hazard." He reached for his own wanted poster, hidden under a copy of their menu and held it in front of the Marine.

"Black Leg…"

Sanji nodded.

"But what are you doing here? Aren't you supposed to be sailing?"

"I wish we were," Sanji said, taking a long drag of his cigarette. "We split up when I was twenty two."

"That was over forty years ago!"

"I know."

"Why?"

Sanji took his time answering. He snuffed out his cigarette and lit another, offering the lighter to Smoker. He hesitantly accepted it, lighting his own cigars.

"Luffy's dead."

"…What? I thought you said he was home."

"That's where his grave is." Sanji said. "We built it just before we split up."

"You said you split up forty years ago." Smoker said. "Does that mean…"

"He's been dead this whole time." Sanji finished for him.

"And I'm just going to believe you?" Smoker shoved himself up, leaning over the counter, glaring.

"Yes." Sanji said, not moving. "You are. Because you know I'm not lying. Because you've been searching for him and haven't found him. Because you still want to know why Zoro was on his own. Why Usopp was on his own. Why I'm on my own." Sanji sighed, dropping his nearly spent cigarette into the ash tray. "Look, I know you're a Marine. You…" The cook stopped when he saw a tear roll down Smoker's cheek.

A closer look showed shaking shoulders, white knuckles, and red eyes. "He respected you, you know." Sanji said softly.

"I… I know." Smoker said. "Why else would he save me in Alabasta? Or work with us against Caesar?"

"We're not bad people." Sanji said.

"You're pirates."

Sanji pulled over a stool and sat down. "Do you know why we're pirates?" When Smoker didn't say anything, Sanji continued. "Because that's what we call ourselves. And because we think ourselves pirates, you Marines are scared."

"We're not –"

Sanji held up his hand, "You're scared of what we might become." He said. "You can't stand the thought of a free man being more powerful than the government. You want to be the highest power, so people do what you say. When Roger was the Pirate King, people respected him more than they did the government."

Smoker looked like he was going to object, but he asked, "How do you know this?"

"You're not the first Marine to visit this place. You're the second, actually. She thought the same thing."

"And she's still a Marine?"

"She wants to change it from the inside out."

Smoker lowered his head. "Maybe she's right."

"Why did you join the Marines?" Sanji asked.

"Justice."

The single word was spoken with so much pride.

"But what is justice?" Sanji asked.

Smoker faltered again. "We protect."

"Who?"

"Excuse me?"

"Who do you protect?" Sanji repeated. "It's certainly not the everyday people. We've been so many places that have been hurt and no Marines have been there to help. Even in Alabasta, most of the government was willing to turn a blind eye to the issues there because they had a Warlord there. And the Marines are the ones who gave him the power. So I'm asking, who do you protect? It's definitely not them."

"We…" But Smoker couldn't answer again. "We…" He tried again, still unable to come up with an answer.

"The Navy doesn't have any justice, because the leader's don't have any." Sanji took a long drag of his cigarette. "Personally, I think you do have justice. Your superiors don't."

"They would have had to, to get a rank that high."

"How did you get your rank of Vice Admiral?" Sanji asked.

"By…" Smoker sighed. "By being given the credit for taking down Crocodile."

"Exactly." Sanji said. "How do you think your superiors climbed that ladder?" Smoker didn't answer, so Sanji answered for him. "By taking the credit belonging to other people."

"That's not –"

"I don't think every high ranking Marine did that, mind you. Just the corrupt ones. You're a good man, so I know you wouldn't do that willingly. But people like Akainu. I've met a lot of corrupt Marines in my day."

"Akainu's dead."

"I know. Do you really blame the Whitebeard's for taking him down? He did kill one of their commanders."

"I suppose I can't." Smoker sighed.

Sanji lit another cigarette. "Don't feel bad about it," He said. "Revenge is something that's hard to control."

"And what did you do to get revenge for Strawhat's death?"

"Nothing." Sanji said. "The man who killed Luffy died on the same day. They killed each other."

"Someone powerful enough to take down the Pirate King? He must have been some man."

"The only reason Blackbeard succeeded was because he had the rest of us held hostage." Sanji bit out harshly. "Luffy died to save us."

They were silent for a while after that, Sanji's outburst and the revelation shocking the old Vice Admiral into silence.

"I should probably go." Smoker said when he finished his pack of cigars. He stood. Sanji stayed quiet as he stood and made his way towards the door.

"The moss head and your second in command are in Skypia." Sanji said, just as Smoker reached the door.

His hand hovered over the worn wood. "Is Tashigi happy?"

"If she wasn't, I'd take care of the idiot mosshead myself."

Smoker didn't turn around, but Sanji was sure he was smiling. He left without another word, and Sanji was left alone again.