a simple truth? we'll never have today again

The rooftop made the night sky even more beautiful, if it all possible. Finn gawked in awe at how bright the stars looked as Sanji smiled at her. It was the first time she looked genuinely interested in something since he'd met her, the first time Finn thought about something other than her life.

This made her think about how beautiful the world could be. How extravagant the stars looked shining at night, how the moon tied the scene all together. It probably looked beautiful during the day as well, but doesn't compare to the beauty of the darkness.

"You come up here often?" Finn softly asked.

Sanji nodded, "Working in a kitchen where you have no creative freedom can be exhausting."

"I wouldn't know," Finn softly told him. "I don't cook much."

Sanji began to say something but stopped himself. He wasn't sure what to say, which was unusual for the boy considering he always had something to say.

"Sounds kind of overwhelming, to be honest." Finn awkwardly continued. She felt as if she were starting to bore Sanji, by his lack of responses. He'd seemed quite the chatterbox up until they arrived on the rooftop, so Finn couldn't help but begin to wonder if now that he'd broken some rules and fed her, not to mention brought her up on top of the top floor of the restaurant that didn't seem to be of access to other customers. She cleared her throat, "Maybe I should-"

"Would you like to sit?" Sanji asked, unintentionally interrupting her. "S-sorry for interrupting, love. We've just been standing here for a minute. Would you like to sit?"

"Uh, sure." Finn's cheeks burned red as she nodded.

Sanji smiled his bright smile again, causing Finn's eyes to avert to the ground. He held his hand outward and Finn followed his lead, where he led her toward the edge of the roof.

It was nerve-wracking - all of it. Sitting outside with someone she barely knew, on top of a restaurant in the middle of the sea, at the edge of the roof. Most people wouldn't trust someone so easily, but Finn had been at a point in her life where she was tired of wondering who she could and couldn't trust, isolating herself because she knew she could be easily forgotten or unwanted.

Sanji was giving her the attention she'd always craved, so even if she would regret it sooner or later when they left and he forgot all about her - she wasn't going to ruin the moment. She was already sad. She was already depressed and Sanji seemed to be the one thing in the moment that could get her mind off of the chaos that is her life. 

The boy sat down and rested his legs over the side of the roof, motioning for Finn to do the same. She hesitated before slipping her cardigan off and sitting down, resting the thin material over her legs for warmth.

"How's your hand doing?" Sanji asked, staring out at the stars.

"Hurts, but better. Probably would have been worse had you not helped. Thank you." Finn ran her fingers over her hand. 

"It was my fault it happened in the first place, I should've been watching where I was going. Usually, I'm not that clumsy." Sanji explained, smiling a lopsided grin at the girl.

"It was me," Finn spoke as she shook her head. "I didn't look at all and just kinda- swung the door open." 

"Nothing is your fault," Sanji said.

Although it was his response to them bumping into each other, the statement itself hit Finn to the core. She'd never really heard that before - especially with how genuine he sounded. Maybe she was dumb to think about how genuine and soft he'd said the words to her, but when you're never given attention or told the things you've always wanted to hear - the moment you do, even if it's for something completely irrelevant or small, it sits with you.

"I think you'd say differently if you knew me," Finn couldn't help but mumble. It was soft, almost too soft for Sanji to hear. He heard them, though, as if she'd said them loud and proud.

"No, I don't think I would." Sanji shook his head, observing the girl. He started by looking at her light brown hair, running crazy down her back. He then looked at her facial features, the way she avoided looking in his direction, and the way she put her focus on her hands.

Her fingers ran over the handkerchief that was wrapped around her injury, tracing the wrinkles that had formed in the cloth. He then looked up at her arms, noticing freckles littered the tops of her arms.

Sanji smiled. However, just as the smile covered his face, it disappeared. His eyes landed on another part of her arm, one that held dark bruises in the shape of fingerprints. "What happened to you?" He asked.

He asked it before in the bathroom when he noticed the dark marks around her wrists. Now, he asked it again - due to the same reason being bruises. Only these were obviously someone's hands. She'd been manhandled - that was for sure. 

Finn's eyes finally met his in confusion, before realization hit her features. She saw where his eyes were, a sad look on his face as he waited for her response. "Oh." She mumbled, "That."

Sanji hesitated before reaching forward, grabbing the underside of her arm gently. He inspected the bruises, before gently rubbing his thumb over them, making sure to not press down. 

Finn felt butterflies. She never felt them, usually. She never got to be held by a boy - even if it was something small such as this. She never had someone ask her the things that he had asked, nor had someone tell her that nothing was her fault. It was new, and her stomach did backflips as she looked away from him.

"Um, my parents." She admitted.

Finn had never been one to admit her feelings. She was used to people not caring, or asking the usual 'you okay?' before putting their attention elsewhere. She was used to having to bottle her feelings up, and so she knew better than to just release her thoughts without thinking. But for some reason, she felt the need to tell Sanji. Call her naive, stupid, or whatever word comes to mind, but it felt nice to finally confide in someone even if it was someone she barely knew.

"My parents are mean to me." She admitted. It felt weird, admitting it, and she wasn't sure whether it would ultimately be a good or a bad thing - but she didn't care. It felt as if a weight were being lifted from her shoulders, admitting something she had been too afraid to admit to even Kaya or Usopp.

"What?" Sanji softly asked. He moved his hand from her arm to her hand, closing his palm over hers.

"They say the worst things, did the worst things. They- they sold me to pirates can you believe it?" Finn began to ramble, tears beginning to fill her waterline. "I mean, they didn't really sell me, I guess but when they realized they had a debt to pay they just offered me up like- like I was nothing."

She sniffled, "And then- then I got away from them but just got captured by another crew and-"

"It wasn't- It wasn't that Luffy guy, right?" Sanji couldn't help but ask, "Because if it is, I can-"

"No! No," Finn quickly exclaimed. "No, I was captured by this pirate named Buggy. I was there and I don't know how but somehow Luffy and the others showed up and Zoro- Zoro came back for me and I really don't know why because it's not like I'm any help. All I do is slow them down -and depress everything and then when-when we needed a new ship they somehow led me right back to my parents and when my parents found out I'd escaped they took me back home to keep me there that way if the pirates ever decided to come back I could just-"

She took in a deep breath, exhaling shakily as she tried to gather her thoughts. She'd never spoken this much to anyone, not like this. It was unusual, but now that she'd begun to spill the beans she couldn't stop speaking, as if she were a sink overflowing.

"They planned on keeping me bound in the house until they needed to get rid of me again." She finished, "It seems as if no matter where I go, who I'm with - I'm nothing. I'm nothing but dead weight to them, nothing but someone to use to their advantage. They didn't- they didn't care that they hurt me, they didn't care. And I knew they were mean because they'd say mean things but up until that point never in a million years did I think that they'd do something as bad as that. But if I said anything I was a bad kid because I wasn't doing everything in my power to save them. But who'd save me?" She breathed heavily, looking over at him. "Who's going to save me when all I do is save everyone else? Which I'm not even good at, by the way."

Sanji didn't say anything at first. His silence scared Finn because this was the first time she genuinely opened up to anyone. She said more than she even liked to admit to herself, and she knew it probably made no sense. It probably sounded crazy, and so she decided she'd do the favor and leave before she embarrassed herself even more.

"I-I'm sorry, I shouldn't have-" She pulled her arm from his hand, breaking his soft gaze. He blinked a few times as he looked up at her in confusion.

"Wait-"

"I shouldn't have said anything I just- I don't know what came over me and I don't usually talk to people this is very, very new to me."

She stood from her spot, causing Sanji to stand as well. She picked her cardigan off of the ground and shook it out to rid it of any dirt, throwing it back on. "Please just forget about anything I said, please-"

"Finn-" Sanji quickly stopped in front of her. He grabbed her shoulders gently, rubbing small circles in place. "Finn, darling, it's fine. Please don't leave." He begged, lowering his head slightly to meet her eyes.

They were lighter when she cried, and although it made the color even more beautiful, Sanji didn't want to see her cry anymore. "You need to talk about your feelings, it's okay." He assured, smiling a sad smile at her. "You're completely valid and I will sit here all night with you and listen to you if that means you're not sad anymore."

"It's not okay, it's never okay." She shook her head, "I shouldn't- I shouldn't be this sad. Right? I mean people have it so much worse than me. S-sometimes I wish I had different parents or that maybe my parents would just-" She stopped, pressing her shaky lips together to contain a sob. "Who thinks something like- like that?"

"Hurt people," Sanji mumbled. "Finn, love, they are bad people. Bad people deserve bad things. You are not bad. You didn't deserve anything that happened to you. I may not know the full situation, and maybe I'm just biased because it's your word versus them, but from these-" He stopped, holding her wrists up. "This is more than enough proof."

"That's easier to say than it is to believe." She shrugged, sniffling.

"I'll do it," Sanji then said, earning a look from Finn. 

"What?"

"You asked who would save you. I'll do it. Even if nobody else were to come running, I'll be there." Sanji told her. He didn't stop looking at her even as she looked at the ground. He watched her face with a sad expression as he pulled his sleeve down, using it to wipe her cheeks of her tears.

"You don't mean that. You're only saying that because I'm crying," Finn sniffled.

"No, I do. I know I may be a lot of talk, but I mean this." Sanji argued.

Finn couldn't believe him. She might be naive, but she wasn't that naive. She knew they'd be stuck at this restaurant up until Luffy made up for his dining bill, but the moment they left - that would be the end of whatever interest Sanji had in Finn. He'd stay at the Baratie while Finn continued on with the crew, leaving behind the only person who'd shown this much affection and compassion to her.

"We should sit back down," Sanji suggested after a few more moments of silence.

It had grown silent between the two, as Finn didn't want to argue with Sanji and didn't know what else to say. She felt bad, she hadn't meant to let the mood down, but it was as if the moment Sanji asked her about the bruises - everything collapsed. All of the walls she had built up had crumbled down easily as if they were built with paper.

"Let's sit back down, okay?" He asked softly when she didn't say anything, beginning to lead her back over to where they previously sat.

"Why?" Finn asked.

"Because, Finnie, the last thing I'm going to do is let you go to bed sad."

++

I'd fold for him in a second ngl

Hope you enjoyed <3