When you and Ace arrived at the All Blue it was still busy. You were there about ten minutes before closing and while no new customers were coming in, at least half the tables were still occupied. A severe-looking man with cropped green hair had been standing guard at the front doors, but he'd let you and Ace through.

"Zoro turns away customers for Sanji when the place gets busy to this point. Business is good, but getting your staff home at a decent hour is more important, at least to Lyn and Sanji." Ace says as the two of you work your way through the restaurant to the bar.

The bartender that Ace had pointed out the last time gives you both a smile. "Ace, are you here to help close?" She asks and he nods.

"Sabo's sister needed to talk to Sanji about something, so we volunteered to help free up some time for him, what can we do to help?"

"Ah, if you can get the tables and booths cleaned up that are empty, that'd help. Zoro can't help until we can lock up, and we're going to be a bit with the last few tables tonight." She says, and looks toward you. "I'm Lyn." She reaches out a hand, shaking yours.

"(Y/N)," you say. "Sabo's mysterious sister."

"Ever worked in a restaurant?" Lyn prompts, and you can tell from her grin she's expecting you to say no before you even say it.

"Ah, no."

Her grin breaks into a full smile. "It's okay, there's plenty of easy stuff to do. Our dishwasher could probably use an extra set of hands, how're your shoes?"

"My shoes?" You question looking down. "I've got the sneakers I wore camping earlier on."

"That's good, better'n being in heels. I'll introduce you, don't worry, Duval's bad at winking, but if you can help him stack trays he can get the dishes washed faster." Lyn nods for you to follow her, lifting a section of the bar and having you come back.

The kitchen is brighter than the front of the house, and there's almost eight other people back there. One of them is a tall man who would probably tower over Ace, with blond hair and a smile that seems a bit strained. Lyn introduced the two of you and had Duval show you how to stack trays so you could help him out.

It wasn't difficult work, but it was more physical than you were used to. Grateful for your nap earlier and the fact that you weren't fighting against your mother's "medicine" anymore, you managed to be more of a help than hindrance; Duval only had to fix a couple of your trays.

Once the last of the customers are gone and the place is nearly closed up and cleaned, you, Ace, Lyn, and Sanji are sitting in a back booth while the last couple of employees finish up and leave.

"Luffy said something about you needing to ask about my brothers," Sanji says, an apologetic look on his face. "He's never been one for details, so I don't know why you wanted to talk about them, but if there's anything I can do to help you, it would be my pleasure."

You smile, and then bite your lip a little. You make a few more gestures before Ace takes your hand in his and gives you a reassuring squeeze.

"I'm... technically, betrothed to Ichiji." You finally manage to say and watch as both Lyn and Sanji's eyes go wide and their jaws go slack. "Aside from the obvious fact that I don't want to marry him, I've also recently learned that I am, in fact, cursed."

Lyn's mouth closes, but Sanji's goes almost wider, he murmurs a swear under his breath in a foreign language and you nearly snort.

"My parents don't know yet, and I don't know what curse I have either," you continue. "At least not yet, but my parents are my problem, and the details of my curse aren't something I can control. What I need to know, what I was hoping you could tell me, was that if I tell Ichiji I'm cursed, what's he possibly going to do?"

Sanji stares blankly for a moment, and then opens and closes his mouth a couple times before closing it and furrowing his brows. He's quiet as he takes out a cigarette and lights it, barely inhaling before billowing smoker into the ceiling.

"Ichiji won't marry someone who's cursed." He says flatly, but despite his words it doesn't look like he's thrilled about whatever else is on his mind. "What he'll do in reaction is hard to say. He could lose his cool the moment you tell him, or he could decide he simply doesn't care. The real problem would be the old man.

"Judge could make the whole thing a spectacle." Sanji continues. "I don't think he'd get the Celestials involved, but he could ask for heavy restitution from your family." He pauses, shock crossing his face for a second before he takes another drag. "Er, if I can ask, how'd you learn you were cursed so late in life?"

"Oh, well... um. It seems my mother has been poisoning me most of my life," you admit quietly. "And I think my curse saved me, but I was so weak I couldn't do anything else with it."

"Your mother did what?" Lyn questions before putting her hands over her mouth. "I'm sorry, I just, that's horrible."

"Haaa... yeah, and it's okay. I mean, it's not okay what she did, but I mean, you don't have to apologize." You clarify.

"Well, if that's the case I can't imagine you'll be upset if Judge goes for your family then." He says with a shrug. "I could be there when you meet with Ichiji, if you want? I might be disowned, but I'm not disavowed, he can't lash out at me without any repercussions."

You shake your head. "I appreciate the offer, but I don't think he's been particularly invested in any of this himself. He's had a sense about Ace and I before I did, but even that didn't bother him. He might be relieved, honestly."

Sanji shakes his head. "No, relief isn't really something he can feel. But you're right, he might just not care."

"The only thing that leaves then, is telling my parents." You say, letting out a long slow breath and leaning your head on Ace's shoulder.

"When are you meeting with Ichiji?" Sanji prompts and you look at your phone.

"Six hours? We're supposed to meet for a brunch." You answer.

"Ask him how far he had to travel," Sanji says. "If he's not in town for business and has been traveling just to meet with you, pay for that brunch yourself." He asserts. "Even if he has been in town for business, you should still probably do that."

"Will that help keep him calm?" You question, lifting your head off Ace's shoulder.

Sanji nods. "Be extra polite." He shudders. "Stoke his ego if you can manage it. He and the others are real bastards about rights versus commoners. I maintained my rights even though I didn't want them because the Government stepped in, but with a curse... tch."

"He'll know that the government will bury my ties to my family." You admit. "Yeah, I was already thinking about that. Not that it'll make any difference if reparations are demanded."

"You're still royalty?" Ace questions, looking at Sanji.

Sanji shakes his head. "I sold my rights to fund this place." He says. "But even with my rights sold my blood's still legitimate. Ichiji and the others can't treat me like a commoner without repercussions. Honestly, it might be the only reason the restaurant's never been targeted."

"But, two more months and it won't matter."

"Huh?" You and Ace make the same sound at the same time and Lyn and Sanji both smile.

"Germa's only in town for another two months. With all the other islands and seas, they'll probably never end up back on this island again." He explains. "After that it won't matter what my brothers think, they'll be too far away to do anything about it."

Ace sinks back into the booth, relaxing. "You scared me, I thought you two were going to sell the place and go elope or something."

Lyn laughs. "We promise we're not going to sell this place any time soon."

"Noticing a distinct lack of promising to not elope." You say, raising your brows a little and smiling.

Both of them flush and Sanji clears his throat. "Nami-swan and Robin-chan wouldn't forgive us." He insists, and Lyn nods.

"We don't have plans to elope, but if we have to." She lets the thought hang and you nod in understanding.

"Oh, uh, are you two busy on the fifteenth?" You question, shifting the conversation. "I figure the least I can do for all your help is invite you to enjoy delicious food with us as the 1st division celebrates my birthday. Though I suppose I could volunteer to help with closing a couple more times."

"You're welcome to help out here whenever you want, but it's certainly not required. We're both happy to have been able to help." Lyn assures you.

"I'll be happy to bring a large order of appetizers," Sanji says, a bright smile on his face. "It's been a while since I cooked for them."

Ace puts his arms up in celebration. "I'll let Thatch know, and he can work out the details with you." Ace hugs you, his cheek pressed to yours. "Your first birthday here and we're all gonna be so blessed."

You could feel your face go hot at the exuberant display of affection, but it wasn't uncomfortable. "You sound like Luffy." You tease.

"Oh, we're not going to be able to tell him about this. He'll whine constantly for the next two weeks and then he won't sleep the night before." Ace sighs, nuzzling his head into the crook of your neck, not releasing his hug.

"A-Ace." You stammer, you can feel the familiar sensation from before and you're worried you're going to set Sanji's booth on fire.

Ace looks up and into your eyes and smiles as he lets go. "Oops." He looks just about ready to lean in and kiss you, and you're torn between wanting to let him, and not wanting to do so in front of others just yet.

"Look at you, positively smitten." Lyn says, eyes on Ace. "If I remember correctly, you were in here just a few months ago -."

"S-saying absolutely nothing interestin'!" Ace exclaims, giving you a little space without leaping fully to the other side of the seat.

"Ah, true. True." She agrees with a grin. "I'm sure I have you mistaken with someone else who was ready to swear off all manner of love and dating. Dramatically convinced that there wasn't any one in this whole wide world that was going to be able to-."

"Lyn, mercy, please." Ace begs.

You can feel the heat rolling off him as you turn your head, giving Ace a pointed stare while Lyn hums softly in amusement. To Ace's credit he looked caught somewhere between embarrassed and adorable. He put his arms in front of his face to shield himself from the inquiring look you were giving him, and so you moved just a little bit closer.

"Don't ignite." You admonish, poking his side playfully and causing him to yelp.

"You're in my restaurant," Sanji starts, trying to cover the pink on his own face. "And I feel like I'm the one intruding."

"Ah, ha ha, sorry about that." You lean away from Ace. "With, with that we should probably get going. We've kept you both as it is." You admit, scooting out of the booth.

Lyn hands you a card after she gets up. "The numbers for here, and both our personal cells." She explains.

"If things go bad with Ichiji, let us know." Sanji clarifies. "I can't promise I'll be able to do much, but I don't want anyone in that family thinking they can do whatever they want."

"Appreciated." You tuck the card away, hoping that things go smoothly. You're certain that Sabo would break the law without a second thought if Ichiji did anything, and you know Ace would too. There were too many people willing to step up for you, and considering the complications of nobility in relation to the laws, you were more worried for others than yourself.

But hopefully all of your concerns would remain simple concerns, and nothing you actually had to worry about. Between the office building catching on fire, finding out about being poisoned, and learning about your own curse, you were full up on wanting to deal with anything else.