Warnings: Swearing, panic attack

Big Mom was not... well, not defeated, but... escaped from, in the least, the Vinsmokes seemed finally at peace to cut ties completely with Sanji, and he was back with the Strawhats.

Everything was peachy, perfect, lovely, wonderful, except for the fact that his breath is caught in his throat and he's supposed to be making dinner but he can't breathe and he doesn't fucking know why and he just...

It just...

He turns off the heat on the stove and his hands fist in his hair as Sanji crouches down, forehead pressing against the cool surface of the oven door and some part in the back of his mind that isn't white noise and panicpanicpanic hopes desperately to whatever deity that's up there that nobody comes in.

Obviously the deities hate him, because at that moment, Luffy comes in, and there's the gentle but firm press of Conqueror's Haki on him as Luffy quietly commands, "Sanji, I need you to move your hands away from your hair now."

His fingers move away and there is some blood under his nails that wasn't there before, his mind dimly registering Luffy's fingers as they card their way through his hair and Luffy presses his hat on Sanji's head.

An apology is stuck in Sanji's throat, but he knows that if it escapes his lips, Luffy will not accept it. He says it anyway, and the Conqueror's Haki recedes.

"You don't need to apologize, silly," Luffy laughs.

"I don't," Sanji's hands go up to his hair and his knuckles bump against the brim of the straw hat. He lowers his hands again to his sides, "I don't know why I'm acting like this. I'm fine, really."

"It's normal to panic when a bad situation goes away," Luffy's voice is old, serious, filled with the sea and the ocean, from those odd little moments where he doesn't seem like their normal Luffy, where he is more and yet perfectly himself. "Sometimes you live so long, feeling afraid, that when you're in a good place you're at loss for what to do. That's okay. It just means you need to adjust, and that is okay."

"Thank you," Sanji's voice is softer than it maybe ought to be, but he thinks that Luffy understands based on the bright smile that Luffy offers him.

"Take care of my hat, Sanji," he says, smile wide, "I want to eat lots of meat!"

"Don't I know it," Sanji rolls his eyes, shoulders unfurling and he tilts his head to the side, the weight of Luffy's hat heavy on his head even as he feels a smile on his lips, hesitant but there. "Thank you, Captain."

Luffy puffs out his cheeks, "Don't thank me! Make me lots of meat! I haven't eaten Sanji's food for so long!"

"Okay, okay," Sanji pokes one of Luffy's cheeks and laughs when the other side's cheek just gets bigger, "Don't get all up in a twist. I'll make you the best damn meal that you've ever eaten."

Luffy's eyes are bright as he stands up, smile so wide that Sanji can see his gums poking through, "I know! Sanji's my cook, after all, and my cook is the best!"

Sanji loves the way that Luffy says that, as though it were a fact, no doubt, as though Sanji being a great cook is something he takes for granted and that he treasures at the same time. It makes Sanji feel like it's a sin to doubt himself, like there's no way he couldn't be okay. "I've missed cooking for you," he admits, closing his eyes, and his fingers move up to touch the brim of Luffy's hat, hiding his eyes as though there were a way for him to hide anything from his captain.

"You can cook for me as long as you want," Luffy grins, eyes closed and laugh loud and Sanji thinks forever.

"I'll cook for you as long as you want to eat my cooking," Sanji says.

Luffy laughs, "Forever, then."

"Yeah," Sanji closes his eyes, content, "Forever, then."

"We're sleeping with Sanji tonight," Luffy says at dinner and the crew agrees easily, Zoro casting Sanji a curious and somewhat suspicious look, the rest of the crew agreeing and knowing they'll eventually know the reason without needing to pry.

Luffy has taken his hat back by now, but he helped wash Sanji's hair (though he was drained of energy every few seconds and kept needing to take breaks, which Sanji found quite funny if somewhat time consuming) and the bits of skin that he had dug his nails into have scabbed over so there's no sign of harm there, either.

Washing dishes is easy with Franky's effective new machine and they quickly go to their own rooms to change into their pajamas before the crew collectively flops into Sanji's bedroom.

Chopper is the first to arrive, smile gentle as he holds up his kit and says, "Luffy wanted me to check on your head?"

Sanji dips his head forward agreeably, and Chopper hops onto the bed to begin brushing his hooves through Sanji's hair. It's a strange feeling, the harshness of the hooves contrasting the typically padded touch of human fingers, but Chopper is gentle and his touch causes no discomfort.

Chopper hums a bit as he looks through, and he is finished quickly. "All clear!" He cheers, bouncing back and beaming at Sanji.

"Thanks, Chopper," Sanji ruffles Chopper's head and Chopper beams back at him.

"No problem," he chirps, "I'm the doctor, after all!"

Luffy grins at them. He's perched on top of Sanji's desk, cross legged, feet dangling just over the edge of the side. "Good! If Sanji's all clear then he can sleep."

Sanji raises an eyebrow at Luffy, "Sleep?"

"Yeah!" Luffy nods sagely, "So you don't have a cushcronminum!"

Chopper and Sanji stare, bewildered, Chopper running through anything that might vaguely sound like what Luffy is thinking of, and then Chopper asks hesitantly, "Luffy, are you, by chance... thinking of a concussion?"

"That's exactly it!" Luffy points at Chopper, "That's why you're my doctor!" Chopper preens, only to groan when Luffy continues, "That's what I said! A crooshmaniam!"

"He changed it again," Sanji laughed, "Well, that's our captain for you."

Chopper nodded. They talked a bit more, straying from trying to get Luffy to pronounce 'concussion' correctly (Chopper gave up around criminal cushion, sighing, good enough) and delving into lighter topics, like the type of fish that Luffy wanted to eat next.

The rest of the crew started scattering in soon, Nami and Robin appearing together and giving Sanji their greetings before setting up a poker game which they managed to get a grand total of one round in before they realized that playing with Luffy felt like cheating and they decided to hold off on poker until they could get someone to replace Luffy and Chopper (both of whom couldn't lie to save their lives).

Franky came, but they soon found that while he could play decently, he was also fascinated by Luffy and Chopper's vaguely nonsensical discussion and attempted to participate in both activities at the same time. After the third time that they had to remind Franky that it was his turn, they decided that Franky wasn't much of a match either.

Usopp and Brook, who had both come into the room sometime during Franky's games, both joined in, Brook deciding to join Luffy's little discussion group and Usopp being surprisingly good at it, though Nami did note that he bluffed a bit more than necessary.

"Not bad," Robin smiled as she handed the cards to Sanji, who shuffled the deck with smooth ease, "Looks like we've got our fourth player."

"Looks like," Sanji agreed, dealing the cards and smiling at Usopp, "Don't get a big head because of this, though."

"I won't!" Usopp exclaimed, "Why, one time when the Great Captain Usopp was sailing, I encountered an island made of cards! Because it was made of plastic, it floated on the ocean and was never in the same place! Unfortunately I was captured by..."

"Save your stories for Luffy and Chopper," Nami swat Usopp's head, "At this rate, you'll end up like Franky."

Usopp seemed put out, but agreeably decided to save his grandiose tales for another time.

"Oi, Sanji," Luffy leaned over sometime during their fourth turn, a little after Zoro had arrived, "How do you say love in Northern?"

Sanji raised an eyebrow, "Why do you want to know?"

"Because!" Franky flops over the bed, "Brook says that it's amour but I think that it's aimer!"

"It's both," Sanji rolled his eyes, "Aimer means to love, it's a verb, while amour means love, it's a noun, you can address someone as 'my amour'."

"Ooh," Luffy hit his hand with a fist, "Sanji is so smart!"

"Idiots," Sanji grumbled with no real complaint.

Luffy grinned at him, "Who's winning?"

"Robin-chan," Sanji sighed, "But Nami's a close second."

Nami grinned at Luffy and held up two fingers in a peace sign, "It's kind of funny," she laughed, "Usopp and Sanji keep switching on who gets second, but they never win."

"One day," Usopp huffed.

"Keep dreaming," Nami poked his forehead.

"Okay!" Luffy grinned at them, "I'm cheering for all of you!"

"That's not how it works," Nami sighed but didn't argue with Luffy.

Luffy just laughed at her.

"What are you boys doing, Captain?" Robin smiled at Luffy.

"We're just talking about what adventures we want to go on next!" Luffy beamed back, "I really liked being able to eat everything on Big Mom's island, but getting attacked all the time was hard!"

Sanji tried to ignore the churning feeling in his chest even as Robin tilted her head to the side, "I thought that you liked fights?"

"Yeah, but not all the time," Luffy pouted, "Besides, I didn't have Sanji with me then, so it was different! The most important part of being a pirate is being able to have fun with nakama!"

The tight feeling in Sanji's chest eased to something more soft as the rest of the crew softened at Luffy's words.

"Aw, that's so sweet, Luffy-bro," Franky slung an arm over Luffy's shoulders, "We like being with you, too!"

"I know!" Luffy laughed, "You guys are so funny!"

"Don't worry us like that again," Zoro's voice is soft in the stillness of the night, careful not to wake any of the others.

Sanji's leg has gone numb a few minutes ago but he doesn't dare move lest he jostle the sleeping captain on his shoulder, "I won't," his voice is light but his intent is firm.

Zoro hums a bit, and then, "The Captain was really upset."

"I already said that I won't do it again," Sanji's voice is sharper now, a bit more irate.

Zoro snorts, "I know. What happened in the kitchen?"

Sanji plays idly with the hems of his jacket, fingers fiddling over brass buttons, and then he says, "Just Luffy being Luffy, was all."

"Chopper was making a prescription for you," Zoro's voice is blunt, and Sanji's fingers still, "When I asked, all he would say was that Luffy wanted him to make it for you."

"A prescription?" Sanji sits on his hand to keep them from going up to his hair, "I don't know why he did that."

Zoro is silent for a moment, then his eyes shift to Luffy, "Captain?" he asks.

Luffy hums, and Sanji realizes with a start that he had been awake this entire time, "Sanji needed them," he murmurs into Sanji's shoulder, as though that is all the explanation required for them to understand.

It isn't.

"I'm not sick," Sanji frowns at Luffy.

Luffy yawns, moving with sleepy slowness, and he sits up slowly, though he still rests his chin on Sanji's shoulder, "You have a mystery brain! So you need mystery medicine!"

Sanji could just tell, Zoro was laughing, the bastard.

"A... mystery brain?" Sanji echoed hesitantly.

"Yeah," Luffy reached up a hand to ruffle Sanji's hair, fingertips brushing gently against scabs, "It's okay. They're not bad. Sabo used to steal something like it to give to Ace. It's for when you get a wrinkly forehead."

Sanji tries not to stiffen at the mention of Ace, even as Luffy's smile is wistful.

"Ah," Zoro grunts in understanding, "So that's it."

"What's it?" Sanji is still bewildered, despite being the one that the medication is being made for.

"Relax, shitty cook," Zoro smirks at Sanji, "The Captain wants you to take medication for anxiety."

"Ah," Sanji stills, "I don't..."

Luffy takes Sanji's hand into his and smiles at him and Sanji thinks, a bit dumbly, okay.

"Thank you," he says instead of arguing.

Luffy smiles at him, "Mm hm."

They fall asleep soon after that, Luffy on Sanji's shoulder and Zoro is asleep in seconds, chin folded to his chest, and Sanji tips to the side so that his head rests on top of Luffy's, and his bedroom is hot and stuffy in the morning from the entire crew sleeping there but it's okay because he is there and his captain and their crew and so long as they are together, everything is perfect.

A/N: Okay, so I can't help but headcanon that Sanji has anxiety so.