Fleeting Flavors

After seeing Pekoms and his unexpected traveling companion, Charlotte Praline, off safely, the Thousand Sunny itself set sail for less juicy waters.

Pudding was so bursting with joy that she was able to come along for the voyage that she insisted on making sweets for everyone, much to Luffy and Chopper's delight especially.

"I'll help you, Pudding-chan," Sanji offered.

"I-I-I don't need your help! … dear~" Pudding muttered at the end.

"Nonsense, we still have so much to learn from each other!" Sanji insisted, opening the door to the dining room and kitchen for her.

What Pudding heard instead was, "We have lots of time to get to know each other now, my sweet darling. Goodness, your eye is even more beautiful than when I first beheld it!"

Meanwhile, Sanji was plotting to make sure that Luffy didn't get any sweets at least for the rest of the day, which might as well be forever when it came to Luffy and food. 'That'll teach him to make a woman cry.'

Plus, he would get to spend time with Pudding-chan too! She didn't seem to like him that much, but he had high hopes that his cooking would warm her up to him.

A little while later, Pudding came out with a cart full of sweet treats and was so red in the face that someone who didn't know better might assume that she and Sanji were doing more than just cooking. The fact that Sanji was perfectly composed destroyed that notion in the minds of everyone who knew him, though.

Luffy attempted to charge over, but was intercepted by Sanji who held out a separate tray with a lid over it. "This one is yours, Luffy."

Luffy missed the edge in his tone, lifting the lid in his excitement and finding a thimble with plain ice cream within. Luffy deflated as he looked towards the assortment of desserts that Pudding was serving to everyone else, "I want some of-"

"You don't want my cooking, captain?" Sanji asked with a professional smile he used to wear before kicking an unruly customer's ass back when he worked on the Baratie. "And here I thought you came all this way to save me because my cooking was your favorite, but I understand…"

Cherry was the only one who overheard this exchange, and she struggled not to laugh out loud.

"But…" Luffy's eyes danced between the abysmal ice cream portion size, Pudding's creations being enjoyed by the rest of the group, and Sanji. He gulped, "Mm, I'll savor it…"

Sanji's smile became a bit more genuine. "Enjoy."

Luffy picked up the thimble between his thumb and index finger carefully, afraid that he might spill what little of it there was and upset the chef he fought so hard to bring back to his ship. Slowly, he brought the thimble to his mouth and slurped up the contents.

A wind dramatically caught Luffy and Luffy alone in the moment, blowing his hair back as his eyes widened in astonishment. The ice cream was only the most basic kind, lacking any additional flavors at all, not even vanilla. Yet it was the best ice cream that Luffy had ever tasted in his life; his mouth was exploding with a depth of deliciousness that defied logical explanation.

Then, it was gone without a trace. His instincts had guided him to swallow the food that entered his mouth as quickly as possible, something that Sanji knew would happen from the start.

"More!" Luffy cheered, holding the thimble aloft like it was a holy chalice.

"That's it, I'm afraid," Sanji said. "The milk and sugar I used was all that I had left from the second wedding cake, and frankly it took far too much effort to make such a small amount anyways. I'm glad that you're so satisfied."

"Ah, okay then," Luffy turned toward the dessert cart and found that it was empty. Everyone else was already enjoying what remained of Pudding's sweets.

He briefly considered stealing from one of the others, but that would be different than his thieving at the dinner table. It would be cruel, as Sanji always made enough for him at meals and no one would go without. Not to mention, it wasn't worth getting his ass kicked if he couldn't even fill his stomach.

So Luffy did the only reasonable thing he could do; sulk about it.

Sanji wore a satisfied smile; his revenge was truly a dish best served cold.

Once everyone finished with their desserts, Cherry stood up and stretched. "Whelp, I ought to be heading out now. I've got places to be and it's better to get it over with."

"Where are you going?" Luffy asked, perking his head up.

"I'm going to check out your hometowns in East Blue, make sure there aren't any Big Mom pirates lurking around. I do need some descriptions, preferably of people who own den den mushi to make it easier to find them," Cherry replied.

Many heads tilted to the side, and Cherry could almost see the question marks over their heads.

Nevertheless, Sanji described Zeff, Nami described Genzo the sheriff of her hometown, and Luffy described Makino who owned a bar at his. Brook and Jinbe didn't have anyone they really needed to worry about. Cherry already knew where to go with Chopper's Hometown, as well as Franky.

The odd one out was Zoro, who wasn't here to explain where he grew up nor could anyone present do so, unlike Usopp's hometown. They didn't even know if he had anyone in his hometown that he cared about since he didn't bring up the past in conversation.

He did have two old bounty hunting buddies they knew of, though, so Cherry would see if she could find them. Perhaps they would even know where Zoro was from.

"Alright, guys. Make sure the den den mushi is well fed and safe while I'm gone. Toodles~" Cherry's form swirled in white fire, disappearing in between the den den mushi's eyes, which shot open with a start and glanced around at the open mouthed crew in confusion.

Luffy bounced over to the den den mushi to study it closely, wondering what kind of trick this could be. "How did she fit inside there?"

Cherry's hand flashed outside and booped Luffy's nose before disappearing once more. The den den mushi gave a ghostly snicker before going back to sleep.

"I didn't know you could do that?" Chopper said.

"I'm pretty sure that you can't," Reiju said. She was the most dumbfounded of the group, having never witnessed something so ridiculous even whilst living as the daughter of a maniacal scientist and evil warlord.

"She just did, though," Nami said with a strange look on her face.

"Is she going to travel to East Blue through the den den mushi?" Pudding voiced the question that was at the forefront of her mind.

"That was what she implied," Jinbe said.

Pudding and Reiju were both struck by the implications of such a thing, and imagined how their respective parents would react if they learned about it. Both came to the conclusion that they would stop at nothing to acquire that power.