Secret Revealed

"You can't poison the cake," Sanji firmly rejected.

"FINE! Okay! I get it; I won't poison the damned cake," Bege relented. "But we're still going to take the opportunity to kill Big Mom if we can!"

"Just as long as it happens after she eats the cake," Sanji added.

"Right right, of course," Bege sighed.

"I'd be surprised if she's even capable of eating it, though," Sanji said.

"As much as I would like that to be the case, there is no way that Big Mom didn't beat Cheapshot by an overwhelming margin," Bege said.

Sanji smirked at him confidently. "You want to bet on it?"

"I'd never say no to free money," Bege shot back.

"If Cherry-chan is on the Thousand Sunny when we meet up with it, and in good health, then I get all of those fancy cooking gadgets in your kitchen," Sanji laid out his terms.

"And you'll give me the equivalent in Beri. How much did your kitchen cost again, darling?" Bege asked Chiffon.

"About 60 million Beri," Chiffon said, making a few of Bege's crew choke at the extravagance.

"Deal," Sanji held out his hand and Bege shook it firmly.

Just then, the Thousand Sunny was spotted on the horizon from the crows nest.

"Do you really think Cherry can handle Big Mom so easily?" Reiju quietly asked Sanji.

"I'm confident in her, of course, but…" Sanji glanced at her conspiratorially. "Even if she lost one-sidedly, there's a good chance she's on the Sunny, and she's almost certainly in good health."

Reiju just took this to mean that he believed Cherry could easily escape unharmed. She hadn't seen Cherry recover after being reduced to a smoldering skeleton like Sanji had.

Bege eagerly watched the Straw Hat ship. He was quite certain that he would win this bet, since it not only required Cherry's presence on the ship but also that she wasn't injured. Sixty million Beri wasn't a huge amount of money to him, but it was a fair sized chunk of change for his pocket, especially after this fiasco of an assassination attempt.

As the two ships drew closer and Bege saw Cherry standing on her own two feet on the other ship's deck, seeming perfectly fine except perhaps a bit tired, his eager smile turned into a scowl. Sanji was beaming brightly at him.

"Better get a move on. We can't waste all night moving my new kitchen equipment to my ship. Ha!" Sanji barked a laugh at his own success.

Bege grumbled, then shouted at his men to hurry up.

Vigo discreetly asked, "Why don't we just forget about the bet, godfather? It's not like they can afford to fight us over a kitchen."

"Shut up, Vigo! I may be a traitorous wretch, but I'm still a man! A man ought to pay up when he loses a bet fair and square!" Bege said.

The truth was that he didn't want to find out what would happen when Cherry caught whiff of this bet if he didn't pay up like he agreed. He half expected that she would take the whole kitchen from floor to walls to ceiling without anyone knowing, then leave a horse's head in his bed for good measure.

Vigo and his crew just took it the most flattering way they could though, chattering to each other about what a man's man their godfather was. Gambling wasn't his vice of choice, so it's not like they knew if what he said was true or not.

Cherry vanished from view, much to everyone's confusion until they heard someone speak behind them.

"Oh heavens above that is good~" Cherry hummed with half a mouth full of icing from over by the wedding cake. "It'd be a real shame to give this to Big Mom; I doubt she'd fully appreciate it. Oh well."

"Hey! Don't touch that!" Bege shouted at her.

"Huuuh? Cherry-chan can have the whole thing if she wants it, so shut your mouth!" Sanji perfectly played the role of a common gangster who shakes people down for protection money.

Before the two could butt heads, Cherry said, "No, no he's right, Sanji. You'll just have to make me a better one sometime."

"Of course, Cherry-chwan~!" Sanji danced delightedly.

"Tsk," Pudding clicked her tongue, glaring at Cherry. "There's no way to make a better cake than this so casually! Don't ask the impossible of my hub- AHEM! - of Sanji!"

Cherry looked at Pudding curiously, then smiled at her in a way that sent shivers down her spine.

"Oh my oh my oh my~" Cherry had her arm around Pudding's shoulders before she even noticed that Cherry had moved. Cherry whispered in her ear, "Did someone have a little crush on our chef~?"

"W-what? Of course, n-not!" Pudding denied immediately, though she kept her voice down so as not to be overheard by Sanji.

"Hehehehe~" Cherry was downright tickled by this turn of events. "Liar~ Shall I tell him for you? I bet he hasn't even noticed, has he?"

"NO!" Pudding shouted, then slapped both hands over her mouth as everyone looked at her.

"Well, I suppose you have something to think about," Cherry said. "We aren't going to stick around Totto Land much longer, you know. Time is tick- tick- ticking away by the second. I can't say that I approve of you and Sanji, what with the way you hide your true face… figuratively speaking of course. Maybe you could change my mind, though."

"I am NOT going with you- you losers!" Pudding whispered venomously.

Cherry caught the fear that lingered underneath the outrage, her mask slipping due to her heightened emotions. "Suit yourself. I just thought you wouldn't want to stay here, given how weak your mother has become. The vultures are bound to start circling once the news goes out to the world."

"Huh?" Pudding was genuinely confused about that, but Cherry was already walking away.

"Hey, Sanji. Why are Bege's goons bringing all that stuff onto our ship?" Cherry asked.

"I bet that you'd be fine after fighting Big Mom," Sanji said proudly.

"Did you, now?" Cherry looked at the things they were bringing over with renewed interest. "You could have gotten more out of them than some kitchen appliances."

"Ah, but these are top of the line models! State of the art! If you thought my cooking was good before, then wait until I start using these babies!" Sanji spoke confidently.

"Your cooking would improve by leaps and bounds if you just stopped smoking, you know," Cherry said.

"Geh?!" Sanji bent over, clutching his chest like he'd been physically attacked. "You can taste the smoke?! I worked so hard to make sure, though…"

"Ah, sorry. I didn't mean to tell you that," Cherry scratched her head awkwardly. "It isn't your fault, really. I can even tell the difference in quality between individual grains of rice as I eat; my sense of taste is just that good."

Cherry felt a bit bad seeing how despondent he was. She had managed to keep that little secret for over two years now, then she went and ran her mouth off without thinking.

Sanji shot up, back ramrod straight and eyes burning with fiery passion. "I'll quit!"

"You don't have to," Cherry sighed.

"No, I do! Zeff always told me that my cigarettes tainted my cooking, but I arrogantly believed I could prevent it by being especially careful! Now I see that I was a great fool!" Sanji's head collided with the wood of the deck with a hard *thunk*. "Please, forgive me! I'll do better in the future!"

"Fine, whatever! Just get up, you're embarrassing me like I'm some sort of food snob," Cherry got him up and pushed him towards the Sunny.