In the cold empty streets of soulmate city, the skies overhead poured snow down from the heavens, no one was outside, all either asleep in their beds or celebrating Valentines Day with their beloved soulmate, all except one stubborn girl, you.

As the snow got thicker and thicker with each step you took, your body soon got to the point where you were frozen solid but still getting nowhere, but you couldn't stop now, your client was awaiting you.

Feeling blood flood to your cheeks once you got to the front of the popular pizza shop, with a small pout that was covered by your high collar, you squinted your (E/C) eyes, catching a few burn and char marks professionally covered up, obviously scars from the incident a few months back, but shrugging it off anyway, you opened the door and shook yourself as you casually stepped in, trying to make it seem it was completely natural for you to be there, you couldn't attract attention to yourself just yet.

Having your ears immediately assaulted by boisterous noises of all kinds, you smiled at the full store, seeing many figures that could rarely gather without starting some sort of riot, this was good, you could get some really dirty and pricey info while you were here.

Trying not to make eye contact with anyone else, you walked over to the counter and smirked at the country bumpkin who was busy serving drinks to some of Whitebeard's boys, and with your keen eyesight caught how 'Strawhat' Luffy looked at her fondly, a little too fondly for friends, while 'fire-fist' Ace was happily molesting some poor girl who looked almost scared out of her wits.

Smiling at the potential moneymaking info, you pretended to have known nothing when the bartender girl finally approached you with a cheeky smile, "hello! Welcome to my shop which is now reopen after...some damages" her eyes darkened, probably going back to the incident that hit the papers for days.

Paying no heed to her gloomy expression, you easily waved it off and smiled, a smile that didn't completely reach your eyes but she didn't notice nor see it, "oh congrats on staying open, anyway, I'd like to order a fruit dessert pizza?..." Looking hard at the menu, you paused before looking back to her with a giddy glint in your eye, "with extra (F/F), and (F/F) sauce please, oh, and make it ready to go" you loved that dish, ate it all the time as a kid when you could afford the money.

Catching onto your change in attitude, the girl smiled as well, "commin' right up dear, uh, since we have a full house tonight, I'm sorry to say that you'll have to share with someone else" not actually minding it at all, you falsified a sudden change in demeanor when your eyes saddened at the news, "oh, okay" sliding out of the seat, you looked to the farthest table and discreetly grinned.

The Strawhats were goofing just as their reputation would predict and began to take the long way there, as you gazed upon tables, you sneakily gathered information as you passed them unnoticed.

'Surgeon of death' Trafalgar Law was happily cooing in some elegant girl's ear, some men were talking about how SMILE development was predicted to increase in the next few days, Eustass 'Captain' Kidd was enjoying himself, possessively frisking some woman who only purred back at his touch, rumor had it some chick came into town a couple months back and turned out to belong to Dracule Mihawk, a hooded man in a top hat who you suspected to have been 'blue gentleman' Sabo was fondly holding hands with a smaller figure, the town scrooge, you soon realized.

It was amazing how much information you could gather when you just listened and looked around in the right places, but you soon had to shake yourself out of your thoughts when you finally arrived to your table, too soon for your tastes.

Seeing them all simultaneously look to you in silence at your approach, you almost wanted to flip them the bird while you still held their attention just for the hell of it, but you decided not to when 'blackleg' Sanji cooed at your figure.

Diverting all your attention onto the melting man, your breath momentarily hitched at the sight of his ocean blue eyes, you mean you've seen plenty of blue eyes that could be compared to the sea, but these ones were actually so beautiful, you could've sworn when you gazed into them you were suddenly transported into the middle of the ocean.

Forcefully dragging yourself out of the fantasy, you realized you were standing there, watching him coo and flirt with you for what seemed forever, the fact made you flush red realizing the man was your soulmate.

A frown decorated your face from under your collar, you were disappointed, while you weren't really interested in romance and all that call, you still found loneliness picking at you one in awhile, but now all your chances for finding love was gone with a soulmate like this, since he fell for every girl he came across, he probably couldn't even tell that you were his soulmate, and the thought saddened you.

"I, can I sit with you guys?" You meant to be more confident, but you suddenly just felt less motivated, though they still didn't seem to mind you "sure! What's your name?" Luffy just smiled at you before scoffing down another whole pizza, which you guessed was a courtesy of his girlfriend the shop owner.

Thinking fast and feeling yourself get on track you quickly thought of a believable fake name, "Shepard Courtney" a small smirk found it's way onto your lips when they seemed to have bought it, but was swift to disappear when Sanji started to pester you again.

"Ah, such a lovely winter bloom such as yourself should be dining with a true gentleman" like the 'gentleman' he was, the blonde pulled out an empty seat next to his own, but instead you chose to drag one from a different table in between the two girls, he looked hurt as you sat down in silence but you just ignored it, how dare he, you may have been his soulmate but he didn't know that, and that's what ticked you off.

Waiting patiently for your dessert pizza, you kept yourself busy by keeping your ears out for any juicy gossip or your client, apparently from the two men behind you, Smoker has been using online soulmate searching sites, that was definitely some good blackmail info.

"Who's the town rat?" Those words suddenly pulled you into the Strawhat's conversation, "geez, some gossiping woman who goes around selling information, she's the best information broker in the whole underground, damn bitch has caused me some trouble back when I was a small time thief, what I wouldn't give to give her a good swing" Nami spat out your title with venom, it wasn't personal, but sometimes you did regret the things that your information caused.

Although it was what you did with your life, listening was all you were ever good at, and that skill helped you claw your way up to where you are now.

"She has a lot of enemies Nami, I don't think she'd be very afraid of you in particular" Robin looked up from her book and blinked, "besides, she always hides her face once it came out" the raven then returned to her book, taking a calm sip from her tea.

"No woman could do any wrong! She probably just needs a knight in armor to help her" you ground your teeth, hissing when they painfully gritted by each other, of course Sanji would say that, any beautiful girl was apparently perfect in his eyes.

Just when you were about to slump in your seat, your eyes caught two things, one was Luffy's soulmate, heading towards you with that delicious dish, and the other was your long awaited client, just coming in through the door.

Smiling at the good timing, you sat up, giving Sanji one last discreet glance before bursting out of your seat, pulling out a reasonable wad of cash, you snatched the box from the oversized tray, threw the money onto it without a second glance and headed right towards the client, but in your haste to finally get away from your soulmate, you made a mistake.

Not looking, when one of Shanks' men pushed out their chair, it hit your leg, causing you to softly gasp when the man tried to catch you, only to accidentally pull down your collar instead.

Landing on a table, your head felt jumbled from the fall, but you still heard the multiple gasps coming from the men surrounding you, making you grimace since you were hoping that the pizza all over you could have at least made you unidentifiable, "it's the town rat!" One man yelled, well fuck.

Opening one eye through the gooey stretches of cheese, you stood up and frowned when everyone backed away from you, with hateful and suspicious looks on their faces, "shit, she's probably here getting some gossip!" One heart gangster accused, making you slouch as some men moved to cover their soulmates from your sight, now getting hands on their pistols.

Immediately putting your hands up in surrender, you slowly backed up as they carefully watched you with caution, "jeez everyone chill! I come in peace! I was just here to get some of my favorite food and skedaddle, no eavesdropping here I swear! Now if you'll all excuse me-" you saw a few men in the crowd pull out their guns, causing you to swiftly jump out the window out of reflex, cussing when you felt one hit your arm.

Landing in the snow outside you were fast to get up and run through the snow, not missing the insults thrown your way as you did, "go die you bitch!" "And stay out!" "Good riddance!" "Just drown in the snow!" Tears pricked your eyes from the words, but they never did keep you down for long, though this night was different, since you were all alone in the freezing cold with wounds.

As you shuffled down the seemingly endless roads to your home, you paused and turned around to see a blurry trail of pink in the thickening snow, clutching onto your arm, you looked down to see the skin starting to shift into a red color, the first signs of frostbite.

Thinking back to what happened and Sanji being there, tears pricked your eyes once more, now having an aching heart from the lack of your soulmate's affection, but you'd rather die than get comfort from him while he was a stupid womanizer.

Biting your lips in frustration, you looked up, suddenly feeling lightheaded, the next thing you knew was that your back was on the ground, lightly sinking into the cold, soft snow, watching as snowflakes drifted down around you, feeling more tears arrive and stain your cheeks, probably only to freeze in a matter of minutes, you felt like giving in.

The darkness was seducing you with the promise of death, no more pain, no more human emotion, no more Sanji, besides, you'd be doing everyone a favor by disappearing, the blonde had no need of a soulmate when he was such a flirt right?

Closing your eyes you exhaled, feeling everything fade away, all your troubles, all your worries, and most importantly all your troubles about Sanji.

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Feeling something warm carrying you, liking the heat it provided, you couldn't help but press your cheek into their shoulder, hearing them exhale in amusement, the comforting scent of cologne and smoke met your nose, making your brain suddenly go somewhere else, who was holding you?

Opening your eyes to full volume, you shoved your uninjured arm into your captor's chest and moved to slip out of their grasp, only to gasp when he easily took both your arms and kept them behind your back, damn Sanji.

"What in god's name do you think you're doing?" Hissing up at him, you only received a sad smile, causing your heart to call out to him, though your eyes said the opposite.

"What kind of soulmate would I be if I didn't save you?" All arguments died in your chest, feeling your body almost go completely limp in his hold, before you even knew it you already asked, "you knew?" Your voice was pure disbelief.

"Ever since I saw your face clearly for the first time" lowering your eyes to the snow below you two, you couldn't help but noticed how easy it was for him to move through the snow with his tall, powerful legs.

"And you're not upset with who I am?" Glancing up at him, you melted in the love that hid in his ocean orbs, feeling a shy smile force it's way onto your lips, "no, I like who you are" his grin made bubbles form in your intestines.

Maybe Sanji wasn't as bad as you thought he would be?