I really wanted to write some fluff after seeing all of the angst Sanji is going through on Whole Cake Island. Enjoy! ^^

December 24th, Chopper's birthday. If the reindeer had things his way, the crew would be eating cake and cotton candy for dinner. Sanji knew better though. Dinner that evening would be grilled sea king meat, mashed potatoes, and roasted asparagus with baby carrots. The birthday cake would be for dessert, after everyone finished their dinner. For a doctor, Chopper isn't quick to acknowledge the importance of nutrition, the cook thought to himself as he prepared the sea king meat. He couldn't hold Chopper accountable for menu planning, though. What kind of cook would he be if he didn't take responsibility for feeding the crew a properly balanced meal? Plus, those damn okama bastards would probably come after him if he messed up one of their recipes. Sanji shuddered at the thought.

While seasoning the meat, he felt a presence enter the galley. Looking up he saw the ginger-haired weather queen of his dreams approaching. "N-Nami-swa〜n!" Heart eyes admired the woman as if he hadn't seen her in ages. She was his Venus, emerging from the sea in all her voluptuous beauty. His goddess of love that had bewitched him body and soul… Why couldn't she be naked like Venus?

For her part, Nami was puzzled at the cook's greeting. What was he getting so excited for? The crew just had lunch together a few hours ago. "Sanji-kun?" His mind was too busy imagining a naked Nami-san coming out of the sea. "Sanji-kun?" Was his nose starting to bleed? "Oi! Sanji-kun!" The navigator yelled at him and snapped her fingers.

With a blink, Sanji came back to reality. "Ah! Sorry, Nami-san," he finally responded. He brought the back of his hand to his nose to wipe away the blood. A slight flush came to his cheeks as he dismissed his perverted thoughts. Quickly washing his hands, he smiled at the navigator. "May I get you something? Did you want a drink? A snack?"

Shaking her head, Nami held her hand up to halt the cook's questions. "I was wondering if you needed any help with dinner?" This was different. Judging from the way she fidgeted, Sanji could tell the navigator was uncomfortable. Nami-san had never really offered to help him before. It wasn't like he would ever turn down an offer from the angel that navigated her way into his heart, but he couldn't help wondering why.

As if reading his thoughts, the navigator explained. "I… I don't really have a present for Chopper." She looked away, embarrassed. "Well, I do, but I just found out that Robin got him the same thing. So…"

"You want to help with dinner so that you can say you did something for his birthday?" Sanji asked in disbelief. Nami nodded in response. Although he was disappointed that her reasoning wasn't for him, the cook knew he couldn't deny her anything. He smiled. "Okay, you can help me cook dinner. Can you make the mashed potatoes?"

The navigator looked at him and winked. "Leave it to me!"

…

"Damnit!" Nami muttered as she dumped boiled potatoes into a strainer. The steam from the hot water burned her hands. She took long enough with peeling the potatoes before boiling them. Sanji-kun was already finishing up the asparagus and baby carrots. If the potatoes were going to be ready in time for dinner, the navigator would have to hurry with mashing them.

"Are you okay, Nami-san?" The cook asked as he checked on the roasted vegetables.

"Yes, I'm fine," she replied, although she really wasn't fine at all. Why did she lie to Sanji-kun? She never made mashed potatoes before in her life. But really, who the hell would ever mess up something as simple as mashed potatoes? Transferring the boiled potatoes from the strainer to a bowl, Nami threw in some butter and milk and grabbed the masher.

The utensil hit the potatoes, then nothing. The navigator blinked then tried again. The potatoes stubbornly slipped out from underneath the masher. What the hell? She continued to try mashing, but the potatoes avoided each attempt. A wave of panic started to rise in her chest. "Um… Sanji-kun?"

Finished with plating the asparagus and carrots with the sea king meat, the cook glanced at his crewmate. "Yes, Nami-san?" He asked as he wiped the edges of each plate with a towel.

"The potatoes aren't mashing." Nami couldn't describe the mixture of emotions turning her stomach at the moment. Embarrassment? Fear? Shame?

"Hmm?" Sanji walked over to her. Looking in the bowl, he saw the potatoes in a small bath of milk and butter. The slippery little things were sliding out from under the masher. Taking the utensil from the navigator, he made an attempt. The potatoes were too hard. Nami-san had failed to boil them long enough. "They're not done," he explained as he grabbed a knife and cut through one. Despite being somewhat soft, the cook didn't even know if they could pass as boiled potatoes. Putting a piece in his mouth, he knew immediately that they were inedible. He couldn't serve this to the crew.

"Can you fix it?" Nami asked, riddled with guilt.

"Don't worry, Nami-san." Sanji forced a smile. It was too late to fix it. Everything else was done. If the rest of the food had to wait for him to fix the potatoes, the meat would become tough and the asparagus and carrots would become cold. There would be no way to properly store the potatoes for later either. The cook cleared his throat. "I'll eat them," he said happily.

"What?!" The navigator stared at him. "Sanji-kun, don't be stupid! If they're not done, then…"

"It's fine!" The cook dismissed her concern. He didn't survive on that stupid rock with the old geezer only to throw away food now. "There's enough asparagus and carrots that everyone should be fine. There will also be cake afterwards, so I'm sure they'll be full after that. Besides," he strained the milk and butter from the potatoes, "like I would ever want to share something made by your hands with those bastards."

…

All throughout dinner, Nami kept glancing at Sanji-kun as he patiently ate each potato. If the food was disgusting at all, he didn't let on to it. Maybe they didn't turn out that bad? But if they were really okay to eat, wouldn't he have served them to everyone else as well?

After dinner, the birthday cake was served. Nami noticed that the cook didn't have any for himself. She didn't think he was really one for sweets anyways, but she could have sworn that he would always have cake when it was served.

…

Later that evening, as she started to fall asleep, the navigator heard someone retching in the bathroom below the women's quarters. With a frown, she got out of bed and grabbed her robe. Looking over the railing outside, Nami squinted in the night darkness. She could make out the figure of someone leaving the bathroom. The moonlight revealed a flash of blond hair. "Sanji-kun?!"

At the sound of his name, the cook looked up to find the navigator in front of the women's quarters. "Oh, sorry Nami-san," he said weakly. His stomach wasn't as strong as he thought. "It's just some sea sickness. Sorry for waking you." He slowly walked back towards the men's cabin. A gentleman would never tell a lady when her cooking made him ill.

Sea sickness? Nami let out a sigh and returned to her cabin. That was it. If she hadn't been so stubborn in offering to cook something that she didn't know how to make, then Sanji-kun wouldn't be ill right now. She had to redeem herself somehow. Crawling back into her bed, the navigator came up with a plan.

…

Early morning, before dawn, Sanji woke up as usual. No matter how much sleep he lost from being sick last night, he still had to get up and make breakfast for everyone. Thankfully his stomach felt back to normal for the most part.

Sluggishly dragging his tired feet up the stairs to the galley, Sanji paused when he noticed the lights already on. The smell of something cooking carried through the air. At least nothing was burning, but it didn't stop the blond from feeling a bit annoyed. Who the hell was in his kitchen?

Bursting through the galley door, Sanji stopped in his tracks. "Nami-san?" The navigator turned just as he said her name. She was still in her pajamas, barefoot, and ginger hair pulled away from her face into a low bun. The pink Doskoi Panda apron tied around her waist looked much better on her figure than his own. He set aside his fantasies of waking up every morning to find her in the kitchen as his wife and focused on the pan on the stove in front of her. "W-what are you doing up so early?"

The uncertainty in his voice must have been clear as day. The navigator rolled her eyes and turned back to the stove. "I wanted to say sorry for ruining dinner and making you sick last night." Sanji slowly approached from behind her and looked down over her shoulder. "So I'm making crepes," she stated matter-of-factly.

The cook swallowed hard. As much as he loved Nami-san, he didn't think he could stomach anymore of her cooking, especially if it involved eggs. "Um…" He was afraid to ask, but he needed to know. "Do you know how to make crepes?"

Looking over her shoulder, the navigator narrowed her eyes at him. Even when she was annoyed, she was still beautiful. "Yes…" she said slowly. Without even taking her eyes off of him, she expertly flipped the crepe in the pan. The cook's eyebrows raised in surprise. Satisfied with his expression, Nami turned back to the stove. "I'm sorry for lying yesterday." A light pink blush rose in her cheeks. "I don't know how to make mashed potatoes, but I can definitely make crepes."

"You would think it would be the other way around," Sanji murmured as he ran a whisk through the batter. There didn't appear to be any eggshells. The batter was the right consistency and color. "People usually have a more difficult time with crepes than mashed potatoes."

"I'm not most people then," Nami retorted. Using a spatula, she transferred the finished crepe to the plate in front of the cook. "There. Now you can try it." She poured a small amount of batter into the pan to start the next crepe.

Taking a fork out of one of the drawers, Sanji hesitantly poked at the food on the plate. It looked as it should. There was a light golden brown to it. He took a piece off and quickly examined it before putting it in his mouth. "This is pretty good," he said quietly before taking another bite.

"I told you," the navigator replied. A triumphant smile spread across her face. "I cut up some fruit, too, if you want some." Sanji noticed the bowl of fruit on the counter. Putting some on the plate to accompany the crepe, he continued to eat his breakfast. Noticing that the cook didn't appear to be going anywhere, Nami commented, "Why don't you go sit at the table and eat? I'll bring you more as I make them."

Sanji shook his head before replying, "Nah, I want to stay here."

"Why?" Nami inquired.

"I want to watch you cook," he said with a smirk. "I'm used to eating while standing anyways."

"Well that's no good then," the navigator sighed. "You're just going to make me nervous. Then how am I supposed to cook for the rest of the crew?"

The blond blinked at her. "You're planning to cook crepes for the rest of the crew, too?" When she nodded, he took another bite of his breakfast before going to the fridge. Punching in the code, he opened the door and started to look for bacon. "I'll help you then."

"What?" She was shocked. Why couldn't this guy ever take a break from his job?

"As delicious as your crepes are, they won't be enough to fill Luffy." The cook returned to the counter with several ingredients. The blush returned to Nami's cheeks at his compliment. She quickly turned back to the stove, but her reaction did not go unnoticed.

A pair of arms wrapped around in front of the navigator. Embracing her from behind, Sanji nuzzled her neck. "You can help me make breakfast anytime, Nami-san," he said softly before planting a kiss behind her ear and returning to his food prep.

I got the idea for this fic after ruining Christmas dinner this year. ^^;