I don't know why I feel like apologising for the last chapter... But in my defence, when I first made the layout of the story, the woman Sanji kissed at the ball was supposed to actually be Jun. Actually Jun was supposed to be the only woman he noticed there... But then I thought 'No, that's out of character' as if he'd been so 'in character' in rest of the story... :)))

I'm sincerely sorry! *bows head*

Later edit: OMG LiSYi, thanks a lot for pointing it out. I scanned the first chapter for her name but I must have missed it *airhead* I changed her name in the first chapter so it would match the one here. *hugs*

Anyways... here's the last epilogue-esque chapter.

Hope you enjoy!

"If a soft breeze and a single spark can set a landscape on fire…

imagine what the wild breath of your soul could do with this flickering heart."

-Jonny Ox

Saying that the past months had been bliss was an understatement. Sanji couldn't remember a time when he was happier. The feeling came close to the time he joined the Straw Hats, but it was somehow different. It soothed other parts of his soul. On one hand, there was the sense of belonging the crew offered him. On the other, the love Jun was showering him with, making him feel, needed, craved.

He remembered waking up the day after the ball thinking it had all been another dream of his, only to discover Jun sleeping soundlessly in his arms. He almost squealed, but refrained himself so he wouldn't startle her. He must have stared at her for hours, mesmerized by her peaceful face, her messy hair all over his pillows.

What had he done to deserve her?

It was a question he asked himself every waking hour. Except for those moments when she made him loose all of his senses, when she wrapped him in her world of love and acceptance. But when she was asleep besides him, looking all innocent and frail, he was scared. Frightened he might hurt her again. Terrified that one day when he opened his eyes she wouldn't be there anymore. When he couldn't take it anymore he asked her as they were laying in her bed, her fingers caressing his chest.

"Why?"

"Why what?" She smiled sweetly at him and he realised she already knew what he was talking about. But she liked to tease him with every word and every subject. There was a playfulness in her voice that always made him smile in return. Not that day, though.

"Why give yourself to me? Why trust me? Why offer me another chance?" He way past his second chance, he was well aware of that. So why? The question was nagging at his thoughts, paralyzing him with fear at night.

"Hmm. Because love is blind? 'Better to have loved and lost then never to have loved at all' and all that jazz?"

"You decided it based on a quote?"

"It started with the quote, but it went past it. I thought about leaving, I really din." His arms tightened around her out of instinct and her smile widened. "I would have regretted it if I left. I would have always asked myself 'what if'? I would have wondered if I shouldn't have played with your feelings in the beginning, if I should've tried harder, if you would have been as amazing a lover as you've proven me to be." She leaned closer and kissed the top on his nose.

It was true, Sanji did try to make it up to her. He served her breakfast in bed every morning, was attentive to her every whim, made her happy when she was feeling down and took extra special care to kiss every patch of skin that covered her body. He was one elevated heartbeat away from composing a sonnet in her honor.

He was happy.

Waking up to Jun's kisses, being lulled to sleep by the circled she'd draw on his arms with her tender fingers, was all more than he had ever hoped. It was easy for him to claim he was the luckiest man alive. He wanted to shout his love for her from the top of the world. He wanted the first dish he'll prepare after he found the All Blue would be for her and her alone!

He was in love over his head and wasn't ashamed to say it.

Not once had his mind traveled to other women. He realized that as long as Jun was in his arms he needed nothing else. No busty temptress would steal his eyes away from his goddess. No siren's gong would keep him from hearing her mellifluous giggles or her ardent moans. He recalled another day, early in morning, when they were walking on the beach. The sun danced in her raven hair making it look like dark fire. She was playing with her feet in the water, running away from the waves. The mischievous smile she gave him before pulling him down in the water was carved on his memory, the memory forever plating itself on the back of his eyes.

He could still perfectly see her sun-kissed face, her dripping wet clothes, that heart-warming smile and those irresistible soul-wrecking eyes. He couldn't help himself any longer.

"I love you."

"I know." Her answer, although reassuring to some degree, confused him.

"Why did you call me a liar then?" She caressed his face, moving some of his wet out of his eyes.

"I agreed to you loving me. Never said you wouldn't go chasing after other skirts…" He opened his mouth to deny, but it closed back on its own. He repeated the gesture a few times, looking like a gapping fish. Which was kind of ironic, since they were in the water on the oceanfront.

Why did she give him a chance if she thought he'd cheat on her? More importantly, was he capable of such an act? Could he really betray her like that? The one person in the world who made his heart sing? The person he didn't want to live a second apart? Could he do that to her? He was shaking like a leaf as he was thinking of such an act of madness. He should stop being such a flirt! He should at least try harder! No, not should, He would do it! With all his will and heart and soul, he would give his best. Not for him, but for Jun. She deserved better, so he would become someone better. The best! As if reading his mind, Jun continued talking.

"Plus, I think I have a solution."

"A solution?"

"It's more of a punishment really." His face must have gone as white as snow because she giggled like a schoolgirl. "See, for every single time you go around and screw with other women, I shall do the same."

"What?"

"And ok, I get it, you want to be a gentleman and bow and take their hand and kiss it. I could try and get over that." Her face darkened, her hand found its way in his hair and jabbed his head backwards, hitting the seashells and the sand. He was forced to look directly into her eyes. "But if I ever find out you did anything more…"

The thought left him horror-stricken. His Jun in the arms of another man? He'd kill the bastard before he had the chance to even look her way. But he wasn't going to cheat. He was a reformed man, a gentleman that found the righteous way. And if Jun was with him there wasn't even the slightest chance he'd even consider looking at another woman.

But Jun was leaving.

He knew that for a couple of weeks. He remembered her joking around, saying she had already prolonged her stay on Momiro Island, claiming that if it wasn't for Sanji, she would have left a month or two after she first arrived. That would have been more than one year ago.

It was time for her to go back to her life. She was going after the scum that sold her crew out. She hadn't been very specific with the details, the subject clearly still bringing her grief, but he got the most important facts: some guy they all trusted turned them in to the marines in exchange for the bounties and his freedom. He remembered vaguely reading about a similar case a few years before joining Luffy and wondered if it was the same guy. Besides the fact that he understood her need to avenge her crew, the guy was making things difficult for pirates everywhere. Just about anyone could pose as a pirate, gain your trust, then sell you out for the reward. The scum and those like him were creating some serious trust-issues in the pirate world.

She was also leaving for him. He had less than half a year to finish his training and master the Okama Kenpo Style and the Attack Cuisine. In the short time he spent together with his beloved Jun, he hadn't beaten a single master. He had 8 more to go. He still needed to learn 8 recipes. It sounded easy, but the last masters were putting up one hell of a fight.

He intended to work harder, but the fact that he knew she was leaving also made him want to spend every second of his time with her. His skipped his training, both alone and with the cross-dressers, his head was in the clouds as the recipe was being explained to him and he couldn't focus enough to beat the current Mater. He heart was screaming at him to get his ass back to Jun, his mind feed him images of her waiting for him to return.

He never expected for the 3 weeks to pass so quickly. It felt as if one moment her naked body was entangled with his, the next he was watching her on the deck of a ship, talking with the cross-dressers that were escorting her to nearest big island. She insisted she could teleport her way there, but the transvestites insisted they had way to get supplies. The whole ordeal made her stay one extra day and Sanji thanked all the Gods he could name for those 24 hours of heaven.

She turned her head towards him and his heart stopped. The wind was blowing around the loose strands of her hair and her loose white blouse. It was one of the few moments when he saw her wearing pants: long tight blue garments that highlighted every curve. He saw her smiling from far on the docks where he was standing. In a fraction of a second she was before him, their noses almost touching.

His arms caught her in a tight embrace. He felt his pulse rising, a hollowing panic growing inside his very soul.

Was she really going away?

He kissed the top of her head repeatedly. His arms were snakes around her frame and he wasn't planning on releasing her any time soon. She was his soul mate, he was sure of it. He'd die without her, whiter away sad and alone, he was convinced of it. She was rubbing his back, trying to calm him down, but it was only making him miss her already. She pushed her head away to look at him and whispered lovingly.

"Sanji, you have to let go…"

"But I promised I would never."

"Don't worry, love, we'll see each other again." Jun pulled at him, and he reluctantly loosed his grip. She took his hand and placed a piece of paper in it, folding his fingers so the wind wouldn't blow it away.

"Vivre card."

"I can always find you." She kissed him and it took him all his self-restraint not to shackle her in his arms again. The thought of running away with her briefly crossed his mind before he remembered he had to finish his training and get back to his crew. "Don't lose it!"She punched him in his arm playfully when she pulled away.

"It's my most prized possession." He'd keep it close to his heart, a sad replacement of her warmth.

The sailors were shouting for her and she let go of him to wave at them, signaling she was coming to them in just a moment. He wanted to fall on his knees and bed her to come find him as soon as she could, but his attention was caught as she started to search frantically through her bag.

"Oh, I almost forgot. Iva-sama found this. I thought you should have it since I have one of you."

Jun stuck her tongue out at him, her cheeks tainted with a shade of red, and handed him an old Wanted Poster. It was Jun's, from before she was imprisoned in Impel Down, from the time she was part of the Syzygy Pirates. "Jumper" Jun Hamasaki, bounty of 70,000,000, wanted dead or alive. She looked so young! She must have been barely sixteen, with short hair that reached only her shoulders. But most remarkable fact that registered in Sanji's brain was that she had always been beautiful, even at such an early age. Always had been female!

"I'm such an idiot..."

"Meh, it's part of your charm." She kissed him again and he was sure that kiss would burn on his lips until he saw her again.

"I love you without knowing how, or when, or from where. I love you simply, without problems or pride: I love you in this way because I do not know any other way of loving but this, in which there is no I or you, so intimate that your hand upon my chest is my hand, so intimate that when I fall asleep your eyes close."

- Pablo Neruda

First of all, she was always supposed to leave, since the moment this sorry was born in my head...

Second, I had an idea a few chapters back. Jun could pop up in several places on the Straw Hats journey.

Like for a first next chapter, Sanji could be mad 'cause no one in the crew believed him Jun was real. And then one day *poof* she was on their ship.

And then have some fun with the Punk Hazard body-switching episode... things like that.

But I don't know. I'm marking this as Complete for the moment. *this feels so nice*

If more chapters are to come, for those of you reading the manga, they won't until I freaking find out where Sanji is and what is happening to him. And if you're not reading the manga... you should. It's great!

Anyways

Thank you all for taking your time and reading my story. I love every and each of you who clicked favourite/follow and reviewed [ even if I was sometimes saddened by them reviews. Just saying :)) * still love you* ].

Wish you guys all the best! *Hugs & Kisses*