TW: post-thriller bark spoilers, smoking (done by sanji), slight insecurity of self-worth, female reader

KEY TAGS: post-thriller bark arc spoilers, jealousy, fluff and angst, happy ending, (mutual) pining, love confession, mistletoe kisses 

WORD COUNT: 6571

OPENING NOTE: thanks for clicking on this! please do not repost, copy, modify, or overall plagiarize this work anywhere else please. plagiarism is never acceptable, both in mla 8 format and in fanfiction! for translations, message me, and we can talk about it!

SUMMARY: "Sanji holds the item up close to his eyes, as if he was observing a microscopic specimen, and you tilt your head back to see for yourself what he took. Your eyes widen when you realize what he was holding, and you attempt to steal it back from him. He evades you with ease, simply moving his arm every time you come close to retrieving the green plant speckled with red berries. It's the infamous mistletoe, notorious for forcing two unexpecting people to kiss!"

Or where Vinsmoke Sanji steals mistletoe from you and chases after you, who has been trying to avoid him for the past few weeks now.

✎✎✎

You pull out the worn-out, cardboard box labeled "Christmas Decorations" with tiny, green pine trees drawn all over it from the trunk of your personal belongings. You could hardly contain your smile as it is finally time for that beloved box and its contents to make its debut in the Thousand Sunny. Anyone that's been listening to you for the past weeks knows that you are a Christmas enthusiast. You fully understand that it's not right to celebrate Christmas before Thanksgiving, so you've been holding off the decorating until after. Thanksgiving has passed, but there hasn't been any time to decorate since then due to all the bounty hunters and marines chasing after you and the rest of Luffy's crew. Now, it's December 1, and no one is going to stop you from embellishing this ship with Christmas spirit. God save anyone who even tries to stop you.

Considering how ginormous the Thousand Sunny is, you estimate that it would probably take you all day to have red and green tinsel wrapped around the corners of each room and stick window gel clings of snowmen and Santa Claus with his sleigh on every window on the ship. You weren't going to ask your fellow crewmates for help, figuring they each had their own things to do; you weren't going to bother them on one of their few days off. Besides, you didn't mind having to decorate the Thousand Sunny all by yourself. Even though you've been on the Thousand Sunny for a couple of months already, you still haven't had the chance to explore the ship fully, busy with Thriller Bark and all of the other countless enemies Luffy seemed to have gained in the span of less than a year.

Slipping on a thick, winter jacket before leaving, you carry the large-sized box by the hip and step out of the women's quarters. A gust of cold wind instantly slaps you in the face, and you curl into yourself, pulling up your hoodie lined with fake fur. December weather, especially out on the seas, is not predictable in the slightest. At one point in the day, the temperature could be well below freezing with violent, cold gusts of wind and be at a nice eight degrees with calm breezes the next. While the winds were stingingly cold, it is fortunate that the ship was sailing steadily along without the waves jostling it around as if it was in a snowglobe. You debate on going back inside to add another layer of clothing but find it to be too much effort. You'll be inside the ship for the most part anyway. There's not much to do outside on the deck, especially with a lack of a Christmas tree. Luffy, who also has the same festive attitude about Christmas, had promised to get the biggest Christmas tree he could find at the next island you guys dock at.

You cross to the other side of the ship and go first to the aquarium, deciding to start from bottom to top. You also don't want to go to the kitchen just yet in case a certain curly-browed, blonde is there, which is the case more often than not.

Box in tow, you open the door to find said curly-browed, blonde reclining at one of the leather chairs in the middle of the room, his long legs extended on the table fitted around the wooden pillar. He doesn't notice you in the doorway, attention captivated by whatever he was reading (from where you're standing, it looks like a pinup magazine). He's also smoking a cigarette, an ashtray right next to where his legs are. You find it difficult to look away, and butterflies unwillingly swarm your stomach, flapping their wings frantically inside. Ever since you joined the Straw Hats, you couldn't deny how effortlessly attractive Sanji is, no matter what he's doing. Whether it be cooking, kicking, or, like right now, reclining in a leather chair while smoking a cigarette and reading a magazine, you can't help but internally swoon, which is why you stay far away from Sanji.

As a part of the female species, you aren't exempt from Sanji's amorous nature nor his charms. If it's his goal to woo you, consider it achieved. Every time he took hold of your hand and lovingly doted over you, you couldn't help but fall for him more and more, and you don't want to either. Deep down, you know that Sanji isn't serious with his affections. He just reveres women so highly to the point of treating them like walking goddesses (for better or for worse). To prevent your feelings from escalating any further, you always reject his advances and walk the other way whenever he's by himself. You make the turn to leave to decorate the upstairs, hoping to leave unnoticed. Unfortunately, Sanji calls out to you with a loud shout of your name.

"(Y/N) Chwannnn!" he stubs the cigarette out in the ashtray and haphazardly tosses the magazine on the table before jumping towards you, lunging in for a kiss.

You promptly dodge to the side, and Sanji falls flat onto the cold ground outside. You wince at the sound of the impact and offer to help him up with an outstretched hand. He takes it but doesn't stand up just yet. Instead, he kneels and then covers your hand in multiple kisses, spouting lovey-dovey nonsense. You withdraw your hand almost immediately, as if doing so will stop the butterflies fluttering around in your stomach. Sanji retains his balance and stands up on his own this time, your rejection seemingly not deterring him in the slightest.

"Where have you been, (Y/N), my sweet?" he asks with huge, pink, beating hearts for eyes and hands clasped together as if in prayer, "I haven't seen you in ages!"

"Sorry I've been...busy," you awkwardly smile, not wanting to tell him that it's because you have this big, fat crush on him, "And it hasn't been 'ages.' You saw me this morning for breakfast."

"That is hardly enough time to be with you, especially with all those other ruffians," he scowls, most likely in reference to the male members of the crew (he would sooner die than insult Robin and Nami), "And what is a lovely lady such as yourself doing on this fine winter day?"

"I'm just about to decorate the ship with Christmas decorations," you gesture to your box of decorations, some bells jingling inside.

"Can I be of any assistance to you, my love?" he uses one of the many pet names at his disposal, and your heart skips a beat or two.

"No, it's okay," you compose yourself before answering and politely turning him down, not wanting to reject him so outright but also not wanting to be so close to him for the entire day, "I'll be fine on my own. I wouldn't want to be a bother anyway. I'm sure you would rather do other things than decorate the ship from top to bottom with me."

"You're never a bother, (Y/N)," he still looks like he usually does when flirting with women, but you can't help but hear a sense of seriousness in his tone with the drop of the honorific, "I would be happy to decorate the ship from top to bottom, especially with you."

You freeze up, and it isn't because of the cold outside. Yes, you have gotten somewhat used to his words of affection, but there are still some instances where he catches you off-guard, such as now. As a mantra in your mind, you repeat over and over again that he isn't interested in you like that and is just saying that per his behavior.

"(Y/N) Chwan, are you all right?" Sanji reaches out for your shoulder, but you jolt away, snapping back to reality.

"Sorry, yeah, I'm fine," you adjust the box back on your hip, which was slipping down, "I just had a chill run up my spine, nothing to worry about. Anyways, I'm all good, Sanji. Thank you for the offer though!"

"Anytime," Sanji spots something inside the box and pulls it out before you could even stop him, "Is this what I think it is?"

Sanji holds the item up close to his eyes, as if he was observing a microscopic specimen, and you tilt your head back to see for yourself what he took. Your eyes widen when you realize what he was holding, and you attempt to steal it back from him. He evades you with ease, simply moving his arm every time you come close to retrieving the green plant speckled with white berries. It's the infamous mistletoe, notorious for forcing two unexpecting people to kiss!

"Sanji, please give it back!" you plead, even though the decoration itself isn't that important (its meaning is your main concern).

"Not until you give me a kiss first," he holds it even higher, so it's directly above you two, "The tradition is that you have to kiss whoever is under the mistletoe with you! Pucker up, (Y/N) Chwan!"

"Sanji, that's not how it works! The mistletoe has to already be hanging from above, not held up out of the blue!"

Your poor excuses don't stop him for one second. He leans in with his lips puckered, ready for a kiss from you. Freaking out from how close he is to you, your fight-or-flight instinct gets triggered, and you swiftly move out of his way. Again, Sanji nosedives straight for the floor. Instead of helping him this time, you run out of the room and end up on the floor above right in front of the door to the kitchen and dining room.

From above, you watch Sanji get up from the ground, look confused for a second, and then refocus all his attention on Nami, who had just stepped out of her room and into his line of sight. Sanji loudly declares her name in a similar fashion he had to you and starts chasing her with the mistletoe, trying to catch her underneath it. You smile sadly at the scene as it proves that Sanji is like that with all women, and you step inside, ready to finally do some decorating.

You unravel the red and green tinsel from the box and begin attaching it to the top plate of the wall. While standing on your tiptoes, you were somehow able to fixate the tinsel to the high corners of the walls. Even though you struggle a bit in doing so—sometimes you even had to jump—you are too lazy to grab a chair to use as a step stool right now. As you move from one side of the wall to the other, you take a peek through the window.

This time, Sanji's chasing after Robin with the same mistletoe as before, and Robin is moving away from him somehow gracefully. From where you can see, Nami appears to have escaped. You heave a sigh before starting to pin up the last of the tinsel for this side of the room.

"What's wrong with you?"

You drop the tinsel in your hands out of pure shock from the familiar, deep voice. When you came in, you didn't notice anyone, so you didn't expect anyone else to be in the room. Turning around slowly, you find Zoro sitting at the table casually, eating a sandwich and nesting a bottle of alcohol in his other hand while staring at you with a brow slightly raised. You exhale, relieved to find one of your fellow crewmates and not one of Luffy's thousands of enemies that had somehow sneaked on board in hopes of vengeance.

"Zoro, you scared me!" you pick up the tinsel from the ground and pin it up to the wall like you were going to earlier before continuing, "And I'm fine. Why're you asking?"

He looks at you as if he doesn't believe you and takes one more bite out of his sandwich, "...You sure?"

"Positive!" you chirp back cheerfully and throw in a small smile, hoping that would convince him.

"...Okay," he simply says but goes back to eating, leaving the both of you in silence.

After a couple of seconds of getting used to said silence, you get back to decorating. Decorating with someone in the room is different without someone in it, especially if the two of you aren't talking. It feels as if that person is watching your every move in pure silence while you awkwardly shuffle about. You turn around to check and see if Zoro is doing that, but you don't see his eyes instantly darting away from you when you look at him. Assured that he isn't watching you, you proceed with your decorating and move on to the other walls to hang the tinsel and one of the many wreaths stashed in that box of yours.

This box only has things to hang on surfaces, such as tinsel, wreaths, Christmas lights, window clings, dangling Christmas bells, etc. You have two more identical boxes in your room. One of them is full of ornaments for Christmas trees, and the other has Christmas-themed knickknacks and figurines, such as the classic Nutcracker. You briefly wonder if Sanji would like to see the Nutcracker in the kitchen every time he goes to cook something. Then, you shake your head furiously to get rid of any thoughts of him.

Even though you tell yourself over and over not to, you can't help but look outside the window to see if anything is happening, particularly anything between Sanji and the only two other females in the Strawhat Pirates. You know doing so will only end badly, worsening your mood each and every time. However, you can't control yourself and take another peek outside the window from the other side of the room, envy rearing its ugly, green head.

Robin and Sanji engaged in what seems to be a serious conversation greets you. Sanji's heart eyes are more subdued; they're there, but you see more grey-blue than pink. You try to make out what their lips are saying before scolding yourself for trying to eavesdrop.

You're fully aware that you shouldn't be jealous. You've had many opportunities to be with Sanji earlier, but you ran away, like a coward. Well, that's the difference between the brain and the heart. The brain knows what it should do and what it should not do. Conversely, the heart does what it wants and leads to irrationality without regard for its owner's wishes. It's also not easy to follow your brain's desires over your heart's. As if in a battle of attrition, you barely manage to will yourself to look away and focus on the empty wall crying for a Christmas banner behind you.

"What do you keep looking at?" Zoro, again, breaks the silence out of nowhere and startles you (you don't immediately drop the string of lights in your hand this time, though).

"Huh?" you spin around to face him while untangling the extensively knotted Christmas lights, "I'm not looking at anything. What're you talking about?"

"You can't lie to me twice, (Y/N)," the green-haired swordsman finishes the last bite of his sandwich and takes another swig of his alcohol, "Don't tell me it's because of that stupid ero-cook."

"What's what because of Sanji?" you try to play dumb, but Zoro isn't falling for it. Shame on you for trying to fool Zoro of all people, but you wanted to at least try rather than admit anything regarding Sanji.

"You keep on looking outside with this constipated expression and sighing," he continues sitting in his chair, but his body is fully turned towards you, "and that stupid chef is outside with Robin as well. It's obvious there is some connection."

"Constipated expression!?" not only do you take offense and confusion to his "constipated expression" comment, but you also do this to try and divert the topic away from Sanji.

"You know what I mean," he plainly states, unfortunately allowing for you to respond.

"Well, it's nothing," you stick to your guns and maintain ignorance, finally taping the Christmas lights up on the wall.

Zoro looks at you incredulously and gets up from his chair to walk towards you, leaning in front of you on his side against the wall, "Don't tell me that you like that pervert."

"L-like?" you stutter before continuing to defend yourself against Zoro's insinuation, "W-well, of course I do! He's my crewmate. Why wouldn't I like him?"

"I don't mean it like that," he stubbornly persists, refusing to drop the subject, "Are you in love with dartboard brow?"

"L-love!?" your cheeks go ablaze—you have never even considered associating Sanji with the risky "L" word—and your first instinct, as it has been, is to deny his accusations, "I-I think "love" is too strong a word to—!"

"Oh, so you do have feelings for him then," Zoro smirks at you as he had finally got the very answer he wanted from you.

"What do you me—?" your eyes widen when you realize your slipup.

Albeit subtle and implicit, saying that "love" is too strong a word to describe how you feel for Sanji means that you had some semblance of romantic feelings towards him. If you really saw Sanji as nothing more than a platonic crewmate, you would have said something along the lines of, "What do you mean love? I don't even like the guy like that!" You inwardly groan, knowing you can't recover from this.

"I..." you can't keep up with the façade anymore and lower your defenses, your sword and shield dropping, "Fine, you're right. I do have feelings for Sanji."

You don't think Zoro would blab to Sanji or anyone else for that matter. He doesn't seem like that type of person. Besides, he and Sanji have this weird, oxymoronic, trust-hate relationship. He doesn't have a reason to tell him.

"Not surprised," he chuckles deeply, still basking in his victory, "Well, everyone in the crew except that dumbass cook knows you have feelings for each other. It's painfully obvious."

"I'm sorry, 'for each other?'" you feel your heart stop, and your breathing ceases.

His eyes widen for a fraction of a second—had you blinked, you would have missed it—, but the same stoic expression replaces it as soon as it came, "Nothing, slip of the tongue. I meant, 'Everyone in the crew except that dumbass cook knows that you have feelings for him.'

"Oh..." disappointment rapidly spreads through you like a poison pumping through your veins. It was stupid of you to think that Sanji would feel the same way.

"Why don't you just confess to him already?" Zoro says as if it's so easy, "He probably feels the same, anyway, judging by how often he is at your hand and foot...literally.

"Have you tried confessing to one of your close friends?" you roll your eyes, not noticing how Zoro flinched at your words, and make your way back to the door, almost done decorating the kitchen and dining room, "It's not easy. I don't want Sanji to be all weird around me when he rejects me. Besides, he's like that with all women. Take Robin and Nami, for example. I'm not special."

"...You are both so stupid," he pushes himself off the wall and walks with you back to the entrance.

"I'm being perfectly reasonable, thank you very much," you huff and add the mistletoe to the mantlepiece of the door.

Before you can bid Zoro a farewell (and slip in a reminder to not tell anyone what you had just told him), you hear Brook's trademark laughter enter the scene. The both of you, with confused expressions, watch him twirl closer and closer to just outside the door.

He points a bony (literally) finger to the mistletoe, "Yohoho! Do my eyes deceive me, or is this mistletoe hanging above the two of you?"

Your eyes move up to have a look at the mistletoe for yourself. As if someone had poured a bucket of freezing cold water down your back, you realize what the two of you must look like to Brook right now. Let's assess the situation here: you and Zoro are standing right next to each other under the mistletoe you had just put up because there was clearly no better time to do it then. In Brook's eyes, it looks like you and Zoro coincidentally stumbled into each other underneath the mistletoe...which isn't completely far from the truth, actually.

Regardless, you're quick to deny whatever Brook is thinking with an immediate explanation of what just happened, "No, no, Brook! I had just put that up, and Zoro and I were leaving right now."

"But the both of you are under the mistletoe, yes?" Brook rhetorically asks, knowing exactly what the answer would be.

"Well, yes, but," you try to come up with more excuses on the spot but fail, opting instead to look at Zoro to gauge his reaction to this.

Zoro looks as unbothered as ever, maybe with a hint of irritation on his face. You don't want to drag Zoro into something like this, especially when you just told him about your complicated feelings with Sanji. While Zoro doesn't seem like he wants to kiss you, which you don't mind since you weren't eager to do so either, he doesn't do anything to leave or at least explain to Brook why the two of you shouldn't kiss. It wouldn't be out of character for Zoro to just walk away and go up to his gym, so you don't understand what's keeping him here or his lack of response.

The cold wind howls past the two of you before Zoro makes his move, "This is stupid, I'm heading upstairs."

Just as he begins to leave, Brook continues, insistent with this mistletoe kiss happening, "You know, they say it's bad luck to walk away from someone under a mistletoe."

Now, you've never heard of that before, but, before you can contest the validity of his statement, a rough hand grabs you by the side of your face and quickly turns your head to face them. You look up to see who it was only to find Zoro looking down at you with a bothered, "can't-be-helped" expression on his face. Before you can ask him what's going on, he bends down to kiss you, and your eyes widen out of complete surprise. Your mind blanks, and you stay completely still, not making any effort to push him away or even kiss back due to the sheer shock. The kiss is over almost as soon as it begins, and Zoro bashfully holds a hand up to his lips when he stands back up.

"Sorry, but I can't exactly afford to have bad luck right now," his hand moves from his lips to the back of his neck, scratching it out of embarrassment.

"I-it's fine," you stammer, trying to get your thoughts back together.

"Oh, that was just absolutely adorable!" Brook coos with his hands clasped together, gushing over what just happened.

You didn't think the kiss was terribly romantic, but you aren't going to say anything. To you, it felt like nothing but lips touching lips (at least his lips were soft). The implication behind kissing makes this more awkward than romantic.

"You stupid mosshead! How dare you take that kiss from me!"

The three of you look up in the gray winter sky for the source of the voice to find Sanji rolling from the air with his leg aflame, looking more pissed than ever. Before Sanji could strike him with his deadly Diable Jambe, Zoro smoothly evades to the side, ready to pull out any one of his three swords (Three-Sword Style for something like this would be too much).

"Could you relax, you perverted cook?" he begins blocking Sanji's furious kicks with his sword, "It was because of the mistletoe! I don't like her like that!"

"I don't care!" his kicks grow faster and faster in speed, "You stole that kiss from me, and I won't ever forgive you for that!"

You and Brook look at each other, and Brook frolics away to somewhere far from those two. You decide to do the same, not wanting to get into the crossfire of their fights (they tend to destroy everything near them, much to Frank's displeasure). You head back inside your room, holding off the decorating until after they're done fighting. You said earlier that you wouldn't let anyone stop you from decorating this ship from head to toe in tinsel. However, with those two, you aren't going to take any chances. Besides, you're satisfied with having decorated some of the ship, even if it's only one room.

You fall back onto your bed, the half-empty box of Christmas decorations that you were lugging with you for the entire day dropped near the side of your bed. You briefly recapitulate what had happened in the past two hours. Your cheeks warm up at the thought of Sanji, leading you to wonder why he had gotten so mad at Zoro. Well, this isn't the first time he's shown bitter resentment to anyone who had received more female attention than he had, so you chalk it up to him being jealous. Wait, jealous? Jealous of Zoro kissing you? You briefly entertain the fantasy that he was jealous of Zoro solely because he got to kiss you and not because he kissed a woman in general (you suppose the two play hand in hand, but still).

As you lay on your side, your eyes fight the urge to stay closed before giving in. Even though you haven't done much, you feel extremely tired, lassitude seeping into your bones. You drift into slumber, deciding to take a quick nap before dinner.

✎✎✎

Your eyes snap open, and you look out of your room window only to find the outside engulfed in pitch black. Your horrified expression is reflected on the window, and you throw the thick blankets off of you in a hurry. You snatch your bedside clock off the nightstand to check the time, and your heart literally stops when you see the hour hand pointed close to the number "9" (at this point, the minute didn't matter). Had you really slept past dinnertime? When you took your nap, the sun was just setting, and it was only close to 5 PM. Even though the days are shorter with the arrival of the winter season, there is no way that it can be this dark out and not be past 8 PM.

Why didn't anyone wake you up? You're thankful that they let you sleep, but, come on, sleeping for roughly four hours is a bit much. Sighing, you swing yourself to sit on the side of the bed, feeling more fatigued than ever (that's what happens when you take four-hour naps). You stand up and slip on your jacket, already dressed in the clothes you were wearing before. Hopefully, there are leftovers waiting for you in the fridge, but that's unlikely since you have Luffy on this ship. Worst case scenario, you'll just have to cook something up, even though it won't compare to Sanji's cooking.

Your stomach grumbles as you step out of the door, your hand laying rest on your stomach in response. The plan for tonight is to go into the kitchen (inconspicuously), either eat or cook something (inconspicuously), and return to your room (inconspicuously). You don't want to wake anyone up, and you most certainly do not want to find Sanji alone at this hour of the night.

When you open the door, you freeze in place at the sight of said person, leaning nonchalantly over the railing of the ship and smoking a cigarette. He puffs out a wisp of smoke and takes another inhale of the white stick, the opposite end flaring orange. The winter winds, which are much gentler as opposed to the winds from earlier today, blow away at the blonde tendrils framing his face. Your heart stutters at the captivating sight of him, and you barely manage to stop yourself from gasping. Fortunately, he doesn't notice you or call you over. How is it every time you wish you don't encounter Sanji, you find him right after?

You try to slink off to the side (inconspicuously), but you don't even get to shut the door behind you before his eyes shift to the side to see you. You brace yourself for him to leap at you like an overexcited puppy. Instead, he calls your name much more casually walking over to you calmly. You close your door and make your way over, a little confused but not ungrateful for the change in behavior.

"Good evening, (Y/N) Chwan," he stands right in front of you and throws the cigarette to the ground, stubbing it out with his foot, "Are you all right? I didn't see you at dinner."

"Good evening, Sanji," you smile while trying to keep your frenzied heartbeat at bay, "I'm all good. I just ended up napping for too long. I was just going to see if there was any food left over for me, but Luffy probably ate it already. What're you doing here?"

"Can't sleep with that shitty swordsman snoring," he crosses his arm, clearly annoyed at the thought of "that shitty swordsman", "Tonight we had some of your favorite food, so I made sure to save some for you."

Your heart swells at the gesture, and your mouth waters at the thought of eating your favorite meal, especially since it's cooked by Sanji, "Really? Thanks so much, Sanji! I'll be sure to enjoy every last bite!"

"Anytime, (Y/N) Chwan," he smirks faintly and looks down at you tenderly.

Your heart picks up the pace, and you begin to make your escape to the kitchen, "Ah, well, I don't want to keep you up, so I'm going to head up to eat. Good night, Sanji, and thanks again for the food!"

You manage to walk only a few steps away from Sanji before he calls out to you once again, "Wait, before you go..."

Before turning around, you silently pray for this to be quick, so you won't have to be with Sanji for much longer, "Yes, Sanji?"

He appears to be deliberating over his words carefully before answering you, finally looking back up at you after scouring the floor for what he wanted to say, "What happened between you and Zoro earlier?"

"Zoro?" you're thrown off at Sanji using his actual name since you're so used to him calling the green-haired swordsman "stupid marimo" and "mosshead."

"I saw you and him kiss by the kitchen entrance," he furrows his brows, and his lips twitch slightly downward when he mentions the kiss.

"Oh," a light bulb goes off in your head when you realize he was asking for an explanation for what he saw, "Oh, that! That was nothing, Sanji, promise!"

"'Nothing?'" he repeats, implicitly saying he wants you to elaborate.

"Yeah, so basically," you get ready to recount what had happened, thinking back to when you first stepped foot in that room, "I was going to decorate the kitchen and dining room, and Zoro happened to be inside. We talked for a little bit, and we were leaving the room around the same time. Before I left the room, I placed a mistletoe over the entrance, and—this was completely coincidental by the way—Zoro happened to be right beside me. Brook found us both underneath the mistletoe and wouldn't leave until we kissed.

"I tried explaining to him that that's not how the mistletoe tradition works, but he wasn't having it. Zoro was leaving, but then Brook said that it was bad luck to walk away from the mistletoe. I've never heard of that before, by the way. Zoro, being the superstitious person he is, didn't want to have bad luck, so he just went and kissed me. I didn't even have time to process that he was kissing me until he stopped. Then, you came flying in with your Diable Jambe, and the rest is history."

"Ah," Sanji, for some reason, looks a little less disgruntled than earlier as his face and overall stance relaxes, "So, it's not because you're dating him or anything?"

"D-dating?!" you practically shout from surprise, hoping you didn't wake anyone up, "No, we aren't dating! It was just a weird situation we got into, nothing else. Where did you even get that idea?"

"Well," he latches a hand to the back of his neck before continuing, "lately, you keep on avoiding me, and you seem pretty uncomfortable being with me. You don't treat Zoro the same way, so I figured it was because you and he are dating."

"Oh..." you feel a little embarrassed now that you know Sanji has noticed you avoiding him (not that it was hard to or that you were hoping he wouldn't notice).

"Yeah, but if you're not dating Zoro, then," he ends it there, not knowing what else to say.

An awkward silence stands still between the both of you, neither of you offering up a word to break it. The wind whistles by the two of you, hitting you from behind.

"I'm going to go eat now, so..." you begin to inch away from Sanji, not wanting to give him the reason for your sudden elusion of him.

After all, you can't tell him it's because you have feelings for him.

He grabs onto your arm with a pleading look on his face, "(Y/N), why have you been avoiding me? Did I do anything to make you uncomfortable? If so, please tell me, so I know for next time. I've...missed being with you."

You don't pull yourself away and look straight at him, your heart slowly and painfully ripping in two at the sight of how hurt he is (how hurt you made him, you bitterly note in your head), "Sanji, you did nothing. It's just...something I'm dealing with, that's all. Don't worry about me, please."

"I can't just not worry about you, (Y/N)," his grip on you tightens but not enough to hurt you, "Please, whatever it is, I'm here for you."

"Sanji..." your heart tightens, but you are insistent on not telling him your feelings, ready to deflect the question and to ask him one of your own, one that's been floating around in your head, "Why are you so worried about me anyway? You have the other crewmates, and, if it's female attention you seek, you have Nami and Robin. I'm...not that special."

"Don't say that!" he grabs you by the shoulders, shocking you out of your feelings of self-worthlessness, "(Y/N), you are special, not just to me, but to this entire crew. My life wouldn't be the same without you—it hasn't been the same without you—, which is why I need to know why you've been avoiding me. And I don't spend time with you just for female attention. I would be lying if I said having your attention doesn't make me happy, but that's not because you're a woman! It's because I genuinely enjoy your company, whether it's fighting over whether a hot dog is a sandwich or not—it's not, by the way—or washing the dishes with you in silence. Just being with you is enough for me.

"Nami and Robin are dear friends, yes, but you...you're different, (Y/N). Again, you're special. I can't just replace you with either one of them. Being with Robin or Nami isn't the same as being with you."

You blink repeatedly, confused by what he meant at the last part, "'Isn't the same'? Sanji, what do you mean by that?"

Sanji's hands move from his shoulders to your hands, and he inhales deeply before letting out a consequent exhale, "(Y/N)...I'm in love with you."

You feel as if the world is suddenly swept off your feet, unsure if what you heard was correct, "H-huh?"

"I'm in love with you," he repeats and strongly resists the urge to look away from you, his hands slightly trembling in yours.

Your heart pounds so hard, you can hear it in your ears, "Y-You are?"

"I have been for a while now, yes," he hangs his head low, dejected, and his hands go limp, dropping them down, "You probably don't feel the same, so—."

"That's not it at all, Sanji!" you immediately interject since what he said is so, so far from the truth and grab his hands again.

"It's not?" his head piques up again with a newfound sense of determination, "But you've been avoiding me, so I thought you found out about my feelings for you."

"That's not why I've been avoiding you!" you can hardly stop yourself from smiling, too happy at what's happening, "I thought this whole time you didn't like me back since you treat me the same as any other woman. I didn't want my feelings for you to grow any stronger than they already are, so I started avoiding you, hoping they would just go away one day."

"Does this mean...?" he trails off in anticipation, knowing full well what this means but wanting you to actually say it.

"I love you too, Sanji."

The moment those words leave your lips, he closes his eyes and connects his lips with yours, surprising you only momentarily. You also close your eyes and lean into the kiss, kissing him back with the same fervor he has. Unlike the romance books you've read, this kiss doesn't feel like fireworks going off in your head with an orchestra swelling in the background. No, this kiss completely and wholly elates you as if you drank enough champagne on New Year's to make you pleasantly buzzed. Your head is swimming with bliss, leaving you almost dizzy. His hands are still in yours, so you grip them tighter to ground yourself.

He parts from you, snapping you back into reality, and presses his forehead to yours with his eyes closed, a smile of relief forming on his lips, "You have no idea how long I've been waiting to do that."

You do the same and swipe your fingers back and forth in his hands, "Same here."

He detaches his hands from yours and pulls out something from his pocket to reveal it's the same mistletoe he stole from you earlier, "Aside from kissing under the mistletoe should you both be under it at the same time, there's another tradition to the mistletoe."

"What is it?" you ask slyly, looking up at the mistletoe dangling from his hand.

"For every berry on the mistletoe, you have to kiss the other person," he shakes the mistletoe above the two of you.

You estimate that there are at least six berries on the mistletoe and you pull him in closer by his tie, "Then I guess we have some work to do."

You are the one to initiate the kiss this time, and the two of you share a kiss under the mistletoe as snowflakes begin falling down from the night sky.

✎✎✎

(a/n): finally! after two months of writing this oneshot, it's finally done! i started writing this on october 23, 2021, and this is the longest oneshot i have written like ever. i only managed to finish this because my school got closed due to covid. everyone, please stay safe and wear your masks/get vaccinated if you can!

i was hoping to post this at least a week before christmas, and i'm,,,somewhat close! i hope this puts people in a festive mood because, to be honest, it doesn't feel like christmas. it feels like january but that time of the year in january that is nothing but brown, wet snow. i don't remember how i came up with this idea, but i did start watching one piece again and fell in love with sanji again around the time i started this. i was thinking abt mistletoe for some reason and then went, "okay, what anime character am i obsessed with now?" so, it was sanji, and then this 6k baby was born.

my friend was pushing me to write this oneshot, and i was really intent on finishing it. although, i probably couldn't finish it without her, so lot of thanks to her! she always reads my oneshots even though she doesn't have the faintest clue as to what's going on since she doesn't watch anime (she and my other friend are reading it now, and it's so embarrassing).

i probably could have finished this a whole lot sooner, but i was really stumped at writing whole confrontation/confession scene. i'm not good at conveying emotions in writing, so i'm not sure if i really got it right. like, i wanted to show that kissing sanji was more comfortable than electrifying? like kissing someone and not feeling sparks is okay, and i feel a kiss with sanji would be like that more. i read online while researching kissing that a kiss feels like home, and that's what i think it would be like with sanji.

also, christmas break is starting, which means i will be writing more! i actually wrote on wattpad when i was in middle school, so i'm hoping to rewrite the oneshots i wrote there because they're...something else. the next thing i will be writing will be all might x reader (more so yagi toshinori than all might), so do keep an eye out!

anyways, i'll end this note here before it gets too long. stay safe, happy holidays, and happy new years!

comments and kudos are super appreciated :> if you have any other tags or tws i should mention, lemme know in the comments! i'm not good at tagging or tws yet, so i'm not sure if there's anything i missed.