One day you'll find that I have gone...

[love_hurricane]

Characters: Sanji and OPEN.
Location: The gates.
Time: Early morning.
Content: The stubborn guy finally gave up on being stubborn.
Format: Anything but likely prose.
Warnings: Might want a bucket for those farewell tears ;__;

Comments

<3

[blue_motormouth]

A familiar little ball of blue hovered in the air far above the gate, using the dawn to hide itself. About five minutes ago it had been circling the school buildings when it had suddenly halted, then bolted inside as if escaping the fires of hell. A minute later it had streaked back out and done an almost instant-stop on its current position.

Oddly enough, it now seemed to possess all the patience in the world as it waited for the chef to begin walking. Slowly, it drifted down and behind Sanji to hover about five feet behind his left shoulder and followed along with his pace, emitting only a quiet tinkling as a sign of its presence.

[love_hurricane]

Man, his nerves really were getting the better of him. The chef shook his head like a dog trying to dislodge water from its ears; what was that ringing noise, tinnitus?

Must just be the stress, that was all. I mean, it wasn't every day you had to face leaving a place that you'd only just got used to calling home.

Some part of his brain kicked another part in the shin for being a soppy doofus, his feet determinedly setting a pace that dissuaded any temptation to turn around.

[blue_motormouth]

Aside from a moment of fast dodging to stay out of sight, it didn't wasn't fazed in the least and only followed doggedly along to wherever the chef felt like heading.

Of course, after a minute or two it seemed to forget itself some and slipped into more bobbing patterns, then the occasional sway and swirl. Given a little longer and it would drift closer, increasing the volume on the noise it doesn't realize it is giving off.

[love_hurricane]

Okay, what the heck.

The cook paused, resting his travelling bag on the floor to give himself a good thump on the side of the head with the heel of his palm. That noise was worse than ever, and he could've sworn he saw some sort of light a moment ago.

"Tch, fat lot of good trying to leave early if I have to go back to the infirmary..."

Blinking sternly he frowned, it wasn't just the noise bothering him, it was like there was something familiar about it. As if he'd heard it somewhere before- "GAH!"

A ball of blue light had just most definitely flown by his left ear, and in the time it took for Sanji to recover the shock he realized what was going on. He sighed sadly, but there was an attempt of a smile to his lips.

"Miss Navi, it's terribly early, shouldn't you be in bed?"

[blue_motormouth]

Oh, whoops. Getting caught wasn't part of the plan.

Floating down, Navi transformed back into her taller self and stared at her slippers. To credit Sanji's statement she was indeed still in her nightshirt and sporting even messier hair than usual, although she had wrapped something blue around her shoulders to help with the morning air. "Um. No?"

She wasn't planning on looking up anytime soon, deciding to speak to her feet instead. "I just thought that I could follow for a little bit. I mean, just until you got to your bus or car or something. To make sure you got on okay and didn't get lost, you know?"

Scuffing a toe, she mumbled something about not being sleepy for good measure. She really wasn't, and this was a whole lot more important than sleeping, wasn't it?

[love_hurricane]

Folding his arms the chef really did try his best to look upbraiding, or wry at the very least, but he was failing miserably. He just couldn't get that smile off his face when Navi was around.

He reached a hand out to ruffle her tumbling locks fondly. "That's very thoughtful of you. Never did make much of a landlubber- 'guess I might lose my way without a guide."

It was some comfort that she could easily fly back to school and knew the woods better than he did, but, in all honesty, he needed someone like her right now. He could hardly leave without bidding her goodbye, after all.

He started along the path again. "I suppose things will be a lot quieter for you lot with Luffy and the rest of us gone."

[blue_motormouth]

With a little giggle, she finally braved looking up and brightened at Sanji's smile. After all, everything was made better with Mr. Sanji happy.

"Right and that's why I'm here are you going on a boat in the ocean again that's really cool but you'll haveta find someone who can guide you out there okay?"

Walking with a dash of skipping to keep up, she considered the question and shrugged. "Yeah, prolly but I get to go home for Saria's birthday and it's always really loud there. And you're not all that loud and I'll miss you a lot more than Luffy 'cause I only met him twice." But she didn't really want to think about that just yet, not while everything was still cheerful.

Pausing, she tilted her head and pieced something together. "Oh, are you going to where Luffy went? To keep each other safe?"

[love_hurricane]

Despite the rather somber occasion, Sanji just couldn't help grinning at the blithe observation.

"Sure am, although something tells me we'll be keeping Luffy out of trouble more than the other way around."

I mean, the kid was enthusiastic sure, but he hadn't exactly seen him fight... how much damage could he do?

... better not to think on that.

"I'll be sure to find a good navigator, if we're going to be constantly running away from the authorities we'll need a pro for sure." Why was it that the more he actually talked about this idea the worse it seemed? He shook his head dismissively.

"So, I expect you'll be concentrating on your studies then? I'll be sure to try and keep in touch!"

[blue_motormouth]

Oh, navigator! She knew that word, it was a really fancy way of saying guide, and it had her name in it! "Yeah! I think you should get a lady navi-gator 'cause it's nice to have both and you've just got boys right now I think

[love_hurricane]

"Er, well, I'm not sure the postal service quite covers oceanic deliveries, let alone pirate ships..." Sanji mused, hesitantly, "-but I'm sure Franky'll have some sort of communication device up and running, and I know the institute's number. I'll get our details to you somehow."

Suddenly presented with the cloth article the cook wasn't quite sure how to react initially; he hadn't been expecting to see anyone this morning, let alone receive a heartfelt parting gift. He managed to keep the slight trimming of tears within the confines of his face, but the ludicrous smile that was by now so familiar was lit with an unmistakably touched glow.

"Yes... yes, I do like blue." He took the offering carefully, feeling the thread of the fabric appreciatively before grabbing Navi in a slightly over enthusiastic hug. "Oh Miss Navi~! Such generosity! I can't tell you how much I'm going to miss you~!"

[blue_motormouth]

She considered herself very lucky to have caught Sanji on his way out, as the apron had only been finished yesterday in art class. And really, letting him go without his present would have been awful and sad and kind of lonely...

Let's not think about that.

After a squeak of surprise, she laughed and hugged him back for all her little arms were worth and buried her face in his jacket. The faint smell of cigarettes was oddly comforting. "Mmmph nngfbm mn gm." Oh, maybe not the best way to talk. Pulling away a touch, she rubbed at her eyes with her fist and spoke in a voice that was getting a little watery.

"Um. Then maybe you shouldn't tell me 'cause then I'll think about missing you and I'm trying really hard to stay happy because you getting to go to your dream is a good thing and-"

Breaking off, she went back to hiding in his jacket. "Love you Mister Sanji."

[love_hurricane]

It was one of the best moments of his life and one of the worst, feeling those small hands cling to him like that. Not for the first time since he'd met the verbose girl, Sanji encountered the sensation of a little sister that he'd always known and loved, but never met before. He carefully patted the back of her head, rather taken aback by the small message mumbled into the fabric of his suit. It took a cough and a swallow to reply in kind.

"Love you too, Navi..." He gave a last extra squeeze then leaned back to look at his fair companion, grinning in his typically hopeless way, but with a trimming of wetness to his own eyes. "Now, come on, this is no good at all. You're a fine young lady, and all this talk about missing each other is perfect nonsense when we're going to see each other again someday, hm?"

Ruffling her hair roguishly he managed a chuckle. "Just promise me you'll take of yourself until then."