Zeff found the hidden stash. A bit of forgotten newspaper with scraps from lunch, dinner, from today and days before, crumpled under the hotel's mattress. Hoarding, just in case.

He had been woken up nightly to see the kid was having nightmares too, for weeks now. With another month before the Baratie's construction would be complete one thing was obvious.

The boy wasn't going to just shrug off the experience.

God knows he was trying...he watched Zeff cook with interest in the Hotel's kitchen but there was little in the way of conversation and the small blond would sometimes stare at the former pirate's missing leg.

The nightmares were getting worse.

The brat was suffering and in Zeff's opinion he had already suffered more than enough already.

The next day he found the kid at the market doing some of the shopping, came up behind him, and whacked him on top of his head with a brand new peg leg. It was shined so bright it was near blinding when the light hit the wood grain just so. The young cook cried out and grabbed at his head.

"OW! Shit! What the hell old man?!" His eyes widened in confusion on seeing the new leg. Zeff grinned down at it too.

"Yes. This will work out fine. Nice and sturdy. Hands are the most important thing to cook, but now I can kick the snot out of any lazy cooks in my galley."

As the small curly-browed boy took in the mans new leg, Zeff pulled the stuffed blue and gray shark from his bag.

"The man who crafted it also runs a toy shop, he was going to throw this guy away. Something about since it was all alone on the shelf it was too damn lonely to look at." He tossed the fluffy marine creature into Sanji's arms.

"What the hell am I supposed to do with this thing?!"

"How am I supposed to know? You're a puny brat, right? Give it to some other brat if you don't want it! Throw it away, talk to it, make it into cotton sushi for all I care...."

For the first time since he met this kid he heard a childlike giggle and then another and Sanji was laughing while looking into the dark glassy shark eyes.

"Cotton Sushi?!" Sanji laughed as he thought about it and pushed the shark into his shopping bag.

Zeff grinned at the unexpected response but that was nothing compared to the smile when he almost walked in on the boy that night saying good night to "Sushi" and asking if he knew the way to All Blue. At the lack of response Sanji called him worthless and not even good fodder for his namesake before he snuggled into the comfort and slung an arm around him. He did make an excellent pillow, came a tired muffled response.

The older chef didn't bother patting himself on the back as he listened to the breathing even out into the first peaceful sleep he had ever heard from the boy. Moving might wake him...and he wouldn't disturb this moment for the world.

Under the covers a small blond cook clutched Sushi a little tighter. The ocean was beautiful and warm but his new friend was swimming through the wonders so fast Sanji worried he might accidentally fall off. He adjusted his grip and he couldn't help but smile. He wasn't alone.