Avisa Changes and Sanji Makes Curry

For most of the afternoon, Avisa hung out with Nami and Robin as she tried on different clothes and found ones that fit her. Thankfully, her size wasn't too different from either of them. She had a more muscular build than the average woman thanks to her rigorous training and was a little curvier, but she wasn't too curvy that she couldn't find stuff to wear.

Finally, Avisa also went to take a shower and freshen up a bit before she put on some of the clothes she borrowed. She wore a nice green fitted tee shirt and some jeans. When she looked in the mirror, she looked like a whole new person, which didn't surprise her too much. It was still always a little jarring when she went back to looking feminine though. As an added touch, she took out the earrings her father had given her one Christmas and put them in again. She felt a bit more herself now as she looked at her reflection.

When she went back into the ladies' quarters, they gasped and smiled with glee. "You look great! I think that outfit suits you very well," said Nami.

"Thanks, I appreciate you guys lending me clothes. It feels good to be back to my old self again." Even speaking in her regular tone of voice felt strange but really good.

A tap came at the door and they heard Chopper's voice say, "Supper's ready!"

Avisa looked at the ladies in shock and said, "Really, is it that time already? I should have been helping Sanji a while ago."

Nami and Robin smiled and gave each other a knowing glance before Robin said, "Sanji asked us all not to tell you what time it was so that he could make dinner himself."

"You also told him apparently at one point that your favourite meal was curry, so he wanted to make it for you to cheer you up," Nami added.

"What? That's sweet of him but he didn't have to do that. Since I'm making you guys travel extra I feel like I should be working harder or something to make up for it."

Nami started to get up to head to the dining room and grabbed Avisa's hand as she said, "You don't owe us anything. Just relax, okay?"

Avisa nodded and followed them to the dining room. As she walked in the room, she saw the rest of crew's very shocked faces—some even had their mouths gaping. But Sanji had his back turned as he worked in the kitchen still. Avisa blushed a little at their surprise but walked over to where Sanji was. She cleared her throat behind him to get his attention. Sanji's eyes went wide when he turned around, and he looked at her frozen in shock. A deep blush coated his cheeks as he took Avisa in. His eyes seemed to especially dwell on her cleavage as he looked her up and down. Avisa pretended to ignore this as she smiled and said, "I just wanted to thank you for making this meal to cheer me up. It means a lot."

Somehow his face got even redder, and he smiled and took her hand as he said, "Anything for you, Avisa-chan."

Avisa smirked as she said, "So I'm not 'mind-freak' anymore then? That's a shame—I think it suited me."

Sanji looked mortified. A few of the crew members laughed at Sanji's reaction as he quickly said, "No, it didn't suit you at all. I'm so sorry for calling you that. Please forgive me?"

"Of course," Avisa giggled a bit as she added, "I was just messing with you."

Sanji smiled in satisfaction as Avisa then walked over to the table to join the others as they ate. Sanji soon joined them and added a few more dishes. It was truly a feast and Avisa had a hard time not crying again from how good the food was.

...

After the meal, most of the crew went out onto the deck to hang out and she watched their laughter and singing as Brook played a tune. It warmed her heart as she listened to it, and she sighed a little as she walked to the kitchen to see what Sanji was doing. Sometimes moments like that on the ship made her heart ache a little. She missed being surrounded by loved ones and to watch them knowing she wouldn't be with them for long made her feel heavy. As she entered the kitchen, she saw that Sanji was doing a bunch of dishes alone. Apparently, he hadn't asked anyone to help. He had probably wanted to let everyone just enjoy the evening.

"Hey, can I help?"

Sanji was startled a little and turned around with a nervous smile as he replied, "No, you just go enjoy the evening and music. I'll be fine. There's not much left to do."

That was a huge lie—she could tell by the state of the room—but she just sighed and said, "Please let me help. I need something to help me take my mind off of things and work is usually the best way, not relaxing."

Sanji looked into her pleading eyes and finally handed her a cloth so she could dry dishes.

Avisa grinned and said, "Thank you."

Avisa and Sanji worked quietly for a while and just listened to the sounds filtering over the night air as they methodically cleaned the dishes.

Finally, Avisa broke the silence and said, "You know you don't have to treat me differently just because I'm a woman, right? I don't mind you treating me as you did before. I'd prefer less threats, but otherwise I didn't mind."

Sanji looked at her and seemed to think about something for a moment before he said, "I'm not sure I'm capable of that."

Avisa sighed and looked at him more intently, as she explained, "Well, it's not that I don't want you to find me attractive or something. I just still want to be good friends with you. I think we had a good thing going and I'd hate to think it would be ruined just because I have boobs or something."

Sanji smirked a little as he took a drag of his cigarette. He leaned back on the counter and put his hands in his pockets as he said, "It's just my nature to treat women differently. I like you a lot as a friend and I would like to get to know who you are as Avisa and not Alexei, but I'd really like to spoil you if you'll let me. It brings me joy."

"And what about flirting?" Avisa asked.

"What about it?"

"Does it bring you joy to flirt with me too or just Nami and Robin?"

Sanji smiled as he moved closer to her, so he was looking down at her. He got so close that she could feel his warm breath on her face. "I think it would bring me great joy to flirt with you."

Avisa felt her face warm a little. She replied, "Well, then, you can do that too."

"Good," he said. He moved back and began washing dishes again as if nothing had happened and Avisa followed suit.

Sanji broke the silence this time as he said, "Was it true what you said before...about relationships I mean? Or did you just make that up for cover?"

"You mean about how I have never technically been in a relationship?"

"Yeah, and the stuff you said after that."

Avisa bit her lip a little and then replied, "Yeah, it was all true. I mean, it was a guy that I was interested in and not a woman, but I never said it was a woman either, so yeah, it was all true."

"So...you don't want a family one day? You just want to go on adventures for your whole life?"

Avisa looked at him confused and said, "That's not what I meant when I said I didn't think I would be satisfied with him. I just knew he wanted to start a family right away and put roots down. I wasn't ready for that and I'm not sure I'll ever be. If I had a family, I think it would be an unconventional one. I've always liked the idea of having one, but I wouldn't want to commit to it unless I was sure I was ready."

Sanji nodded as he put a clean pan up on a shelf and then he said, "That makes sense. I just thought that maybe you were trying to sound manly or something when you said it. I guess I'm just trying to separate the truth from the lies."

Avisa smiled sadly as she gently grabbed Sanji's arm and looked at him. He looked at her a little confused, but she said, "I am really sorry for lying like that. But I tried to be as truthful as possible."

Sanji smiled a little as he replied, "That's good at least. I can see you are my friend Alexei even if there was a lot more to him than I thought."

Avisa chuckled a bit and went back to drying dishes as she asked, "Do you ever think you'll have a family?"

Sanji seemed taken aback by the question but answered, "I think I might one day, once my own adventuring starts to slow down. I don't know though. I don't think I'd be a good father. And I think the best family I've had so far have been the people that chose me, not the ones I share blood with."

"I think you'd make a great dad if you ask me. But I agree with you that sometimes the best family are the people who choose you and not the ones you're related to. I often think part of the reason I want to wait to have children is because I don't want to be a parent that isn't there for their kids, you know? I think children are a type of treasure that should be admired and loved fully, without reservation. They shouldn't be taken lightly, and I find it sad that so many people have kids when they don't view them like the greatest treasure in the world."

Avisa looked over at Sanji to see that he was looking at her but seemed to be thinking intensely about something.

Finally, he said, "You have a good heart, Avisa."

She smiled warmly at him and replied, "I know you probably won't believe it, but you do too."