Under the Stars: Sanji Gets Jealous and Avisa Shares Her Bed

The next day Avisa continued to practice using her devil fruit powers—this time with much more determination. She needed to know that she would be at her best when she finally got home, and since Sanji was avoiding giving her work to do, she had to occupy herself with something or she would go crazy.

Just as she was moving one of Zoro's weights carefully from one side of the ship's deck to another, she heard Sanji call behind her, "Nami-san, Robin-chan, Avisa-chan! I have some refreshments for you!"

He practically had hearts in his eyes as he handed them all drinks and asked them if they needed anything else. It was a warm day so he wore shorts and a tropical short-sleeve button-down. But the shirt was open and she could see his chiseled muscles and happy trail. It was on the edge of making her feral. 

"Hey, what about us?!", Luffy called from where he was fishing with Ussop and Chopper.

"It's only for the beautiful ladies. You can wait till lunch for refreshments." With that said, Sanji turned around and strutted back to the kitchen.

Avisa took a sip and then turned to Nami and Robin. "It's going to take some time for me to get used to that," she said.

They laughed a little and then Nami responded, "You'd think so, but honestly it grows on you over time. I might not like the flirting at times, but I do like the extra drinks." She grinned and clinked her glass against Robin's before taking another sip.

Avisa laughed and then set her glass back down to start practicing again when she noticed the weight she was using was gone. "Hey, where'd the weight go?"

"Oh, sorry, I thought you were done with it. I was just going to start my workout."

She looked behind her and saw Zoro lifting the weight. He was sweating in all his shirtless glory.

"That's alright. I should probably go to the kitchen to help out with preparing lunch anyways."

Zoro smirked a little at that. "Is the love-cook treating you better now? I figured he would have banned you from work after finding out you're a woman."

Avisa blushed a little but replied, "He tried to, but in order to please me he lets me work because I want to. It helps me get my mind off things."

"Well, that makes sense, I guess. But don't be afraid to kick his ass if he tries anything stupid, okay? Hell, I'll even kick his ass for you if you want."

"I'm sure you would, but it's not necessary," Avisa responded as she walked towards the kitchen and past the shirtless swordsman. She couldn't help but have her eyes linger a little before she continued past him. 

I need to get my horniness in check.

As she was having this thought, she saw Sanji looking towards them with a gloomy expression.

Is he jealous?

As she approached him, she said, "I was just on my way to come help you with lunch. Is something wrong?"

"What were you talking to the moss-head about?"

She smirked at him a bit and said, "Why, are you jealous?"

He scowled at that and started to turn back towards the kitchen as he said, "If he keeps bothering you, let me know and I'll kick his ass for you."

Avisa caught up and walked in step with him as she responded, "Oh, he wasn't bothering me. He just wanted to know if the 'love-cook' was treating me better."

"And what did you tell him?"

Avisa grinned. "I told him the truth—that you treat me very well."

Sanji seemed satisfied by that answer and his gloomy expression subsided somewhat.

"So, what are we making for lunch today?"

Sanji looked at her and smiled as he said, "Fish."

...

That evening Avisa had trouble falling asleep and decided to go out onto the deck to look out at the sky and breathe in some fresh air. She walked out in her nightgown and wore a fuzzy blanket around her shoulders to help with the chill. When she walked out onto the deck, she saw Sanji leaning against the side and looking out at the stars. The moonlight shone on him and highlighted the flecks of gold in his hair. He wore his pajamas, which was still fairly formal as it included a button-down shirt.

She walked up to him and yawned as she said, "Why are you up so late?"

He smiled and said, "I could ask the same of you."

"Well, I've just been having trouble falling asleep lately."

He nodded. "That's understandable. I know you must be going through a lot right now." He paused and lit a cigarette before he said, "I've just always had trouble sleeping and sometimes I come out here just to check on things and think."

Avisa nodded and looked up at the stars for a while and listened to the ocean. It was so peaceful sometimes out here. The ocean was like its own category of space that held all kinds of possibilities. It was ruthless, yes, but it was also beautiful and sublime and sometimes even gentle. She could see herself falling in love with the sea if she wasn't careful.

Suddenly, she was aware that Sanji was looking at her. She turned and saw that he was simply watching her. He didn't seem to be embarrassed that she noticed, but instead he asked, "Do you ever regret becoming a thief?"

Avisa sucked in a sharp breath and let out a nervous laugh. "Wow, you really just went for the deep topics, didn't you?"

"I'm sorry, I don't mean to pry—I just wondered."

"It's okay. I guess I never really thought about it. My life has always been a bit rocky from the start and if it wasn't thievery, it could have been something much darker, so I think overall I'm pretty grateful." She paused and shivered a bit before she added, "But I do wish I could stop getting loved ones in the thick of my mess."

"If you don't want to talk about it, that's okay, but why is it that you're so sure this man you stole from will try to kill your family?"

Avisa's eyes filled with tears a bit as she tried to find the right words to explain the man that was the cause of her greatest pain. Finally, she took a shaky breath and said, "The man who I stole from has led a life under many names from what I've gathered, but the name I've known him as is Lord Dinero. He is a businessman of shady origins that bought out most of Kenonee Island many years ago. During that time, he decided he wanted to buy my family's land, which was known for its good soil. He wanted to plant his own poison crops and already slowly began to have a monopoly on the trade. Eventually, he made an offer to my father, which he refused."

Avisa paused and wiped a tear from her eye before she continued, "That's around the time when a man came to my grandmother's shop wanting to buy poison. My grandmother wasn't there at the time, but she had told me to only sell to known customers. But when the man offered three times the price of the rare poison, I caved and sold it to him. Then I went home that night to find my father collapsed in our kitchen. He had been poisoned and the bottle was left on the counter—it was the poison I'd sold. Later, Lord Dinero was found to have a legal title deed for our family's farm, and we were kicked off of the land. One day I saw him in the village, and I realized it was the same man I sold the poison to. To get my family on our feet again and to get revenge for my father's death, I came up with a disguise and began to steal from his businesses. The marines were in his pockets so I couldn't go to them for justice. I soon found other businessmen like him on other islands and stole from them too. It was my way of serving justice and paying penance for what I had done. I redistributed the wealth to those in need and slowly made a name for myself as Alexei D'Angelo—the thief of the rich."

"How old were you?" Sanji looked at her with pity.

"I was fifteen. But my little brother had it worse. He was only a baby. My mother died earlier that year and I got his only living parent killed."

"You can't blame yourself for that. There was no way you could have known what that man planned to do."

Avisa sniffled as she wiped another tear away. "Maybe, but I still blame myself and hope one day I can tell him and my older brother and they will forgive me. I fear I may have just made things worse though and I may be the cause of their deaths too."

Sanji pulled her into a hug and held her head as he said softly, "They're going to be okay. And nothing that man does is your fault either. We're going to stop him together, okay?"

Avisa nodded and she let out a sob as she rested her head against Sanji's chest.

They were silent for a while as Avisa continued to cry a bit, but as she calmed down, Sanji said, "You should try to go to bed. You won't do anyone any good by draining yourself."

She looked up at him and nodded. The thought of going to bed in the infirmary alone right now made her feel dread though, so she asked a question before she could think better of it. "Can you come with me?"

Sanji's eyes widened in surprise a bit at her question, and he responded, "What did you say?"

She blushed a little before she explained, "I just don't want to be alone right now so I was wondering if you could stay with me in the infirmary—just until I fall asleep, that is."

"S-sure, I can do that."

"Okay, thank you."

Avisa walked silently with Sanji through the halls till they reached the infirmary. She opened the door and let Sanji walk through before shutting it gently.

She turned on a lamp and then panicked a little as she realized what a mess she'd left in the room. She cleared a chair for him and gestured to it as she said, "You can sit here and read or something. There's also a bit of extra room on the bed too if you would find sitting there more comfortable."

"The chair should be fine."

As Sanji moved to sit on the chair, she noticed he was more sluggish, and his eyelids were a bit droopier.

"Sanji-kun, you look really sleepy. Are you sure you don't want to sit or lay on the bed? I don't mind, I promise."

Sanji turned around and seemed to hesitate for a moment before he said, "If you're sure..."

Avisa nodded and got into bed before gesturing to the other side and fluffing a pillow for him.

He slowly crawled in and then laid over the covers. He was on the very edge to give maximum amount of room between them. Avisa smiled and said, "Good night."

Sanji looked at her and with a yawn said, "Good night, Avisa-chan."