lemon and rosemary

Christmas was fast approaching the Straw Hat crew. Nami, Usopp, and Chopper had gotten far too into the festive spirit and had meticulously decorated the Sunny. There was tinsel lining every room, little ornaments on display, one of Nami’s mikan trees was decorated with baubles and lights, and there was even mistletoe dangling from the ceiling in Sanji’s kitchen — something Sanji had only accepted because it was Nami who had set it up.

Nevertheless, the Christmas spirit was alive and thriving onboard the ship. Sanji would be lying if he said he wasn’t feeling festive — it was kind of hard not to — the energy on the ship was contagious especially since they had even managed to invite Luffy’s brothers to join in on the festivities. Sabo and Ace had easily fit into the way of life on the Sunny and had brought with them enough cheer to last a lifetime. They were a breath of fresh air — not that the Sunny needed it, but it was a nice change having guests. There were new stories to hear, and new people to hear of the Straw Hats’ stories. It was a fun time for all.

Sanji was alone in the kitchen contemplating what kind of Christmas cookies he should bake when Ace walked in.

“What you up to there, Sanji?” Ace asked, sitting at the kitchen bench.

“Deciding what kind of Christmas cookies I should bake. I’m thinking lemon and rosemary shortbread. What do you think?” Sanji said.

Ace grinned. “Sounds good to me! Can I help?”

Sanji was taken aback. He wasn’t used to people asking if they could help — the crew generally left him to it. Luffy had tried to help a few times but Sanji wasn’t foolish enough to let him after the first disastrous time when he tried to devour half the ingredients when he thought Sanji wasn’t looking.

“Sure,” Sanji said and gestured to the spare apron hanging on the back of the kitchen door. Ace put it on and joined Sanji behind the kitchen worktop. Sanji retrieved all the ingredients and utensils he needed and aligned them on the counter.

“So what’s first?” Ace asked.

Sanji grabbed a mixing bowl. “First we want to whisk the flour, salt, lemon zest, and rosemary together. If you could measure out two cups of flour and sift it into the bowl and add a quarter teaspoon of salt, I’ll see to mincing the rosemary and zesting the lemon.”

“Can do!” Ace said, grabbing the measuring cup, the container of flour, and sift. Sanji was surprised he knew what the sift was — whenever he had been training pirates-turned-cooks at the Baratie, they had never correctly identified it. Sanji turned his attention to his own task and grabbed the rosemary stems and peeled off the leaves. He grabbed a knife and started chopping the rosemary leaves until they were thoroughly minced. When he looked up, Ace’s eyes were wide and on him.

“Problem?” Sanji said, eyebrow raised.

“No, I’m just really impressed. You did that so quickly,” Ace said.

Sanji chuckled. “Mincing isn’t exactly hard.”

“I dunno. One time Luffy tried to help Makino at the bar by chopping up oranges and he almost cut his finger off,” Ace said, chuckling at the memory. He finished sifting the flour into the bowl and added the quarter teaspoon of salt to the bowl. He watched as Sanji began to scrape the lemon for zest.

“Why does that not surprise me. If Luffy set the standards for culinary skills then I’d be extremely worried,” Sanji said, glancing at Ace and grinning.

Ace laughed. “You and me both.”

Sanji added in the lemon zest and whisked the ingredients together before setting it aside. He grabbed a larger bowl and measured out three quarters of a cup of powdered sugar and one cup of butter. He pushed it across to Ace. “Beat until it’s smooth and creamy,” he said.

Ace nodded and grabbed the bowl and whisk. He started whisking it in a slow circular motion. Sanji shook his head and put his hands out to receive the bowl back.

“Like this,” he said and tilted the bowl on an angle and whisked the ingredients in a somewhat violent but quick straight back and forth motion. He stopped and handed the bowl back to Ace. “You try.”

Ace accepted the bowl back — his eyebrows were furrowed in concentration. He started beating the ingredients and this time had the technique right. Sanji hummed in approval.

Ace paused after a minute of continuous beating. “Wow. I didn’t know baking required so much stamina,” he said, grinning. “I kinda like it.” He renewed his efforts, beating the butter and sugar with more energy than he had prior. Sanji smiled; Ace and Luffy really were of the same ilk. Sanji got to work on measuring out the amount of vanilla extract and lemon juice they needed.

“Okay, I think it’s time to add the vanilla extract and lemon juice,” Sanji said. Ace paused and offered him the bowl. Sanji poured in the ingredients and pushed the bowl back to Ace. “Beat again.” Ace nodded and got to work. Ace was a handsome guy, but Sanji couldn’t help but find he looked cute concentrating so hard.

Sanji refocused on the task at hand. “Next step is to slowly mix in the ingredients of this bowl,” he explained, gesturing to the first bowl of ingredients they’d put together. Sanji took the bowl from Ace and gave it one final beat before taking out the whisk and swapping it for a wooden spoon. “I’ll slowly add in the flour mixture while you mix. We want it just combined, so you don’t need to use the same motion and energy as you did when you were beating.” Ace nodded and accepted the bowl back. Sanji added some of the flour mixture and Ace began to mix.

The sweet scent of lemon combined with the distinct aroma of rosemary filled the air and Sanji was reminded of the first time he attempted to bake these cookies; he had been a child, baking by himself, and had gotten all the measurements wrong. What came out was completely wrong in texture and flavour, but his sweet mother had insisted on eating them anyway. He smiled at the memory.

He looked at Ace, busy mixing the ingredients together, and was surprised by how much he enjoyed the company in his kitchen. Sanji loved having his own space to work his magic, but it was a nice change being able to share this part of his world with someone.

“You’re really good at this. I guess as much is to be expected from the chef of my little brother’s crew,” Ace said. Sanji warmed under the praise. Ace looked to Sanji. “I’m grateful to you and the rest of the crew. Thank you for keeping him fed and looked after. I know he’s strong enough to look out for himself, but it’s reassuring knowing he has reliable, dependable friends. And he eats a lot, so I imagine your job isn’t easy.”

Sanji smiled. He was grateful Luffy had such caring brothers, even if the concept was foreign to him. His own brothers had never been like that — but he shoved that thought aside. “He makes it difficult, but I wouldn’t have it any other way. Besides, he’s helped me more than he’ll ever know.” And it was true. Luffy recruiting him to join the Straw Hats was, without a doubt, one of the best things that had ever happened to him. Ace just grinned.

Sanji poured the last little bit of the flour mixture into the big bowl and watched Ace mix. “He talks about you and Sabo a lot, you know,” Sanji commented. Ace hummed.

Sanji put out his hands to take the bowl back. “I think that’s it mixed.” Ace nodded and handed it back.

“I’m just gonna form it into a disc shape and then wrap it in plastic wrap. Then it has to chill until it’s firm,” Sanji said and emptied the dough onto the counter and did just that. After he placed it in the freezer to chill, he turned to Ace. “We can make the buttercream icing and get started on cleaning up while it’s chilling. You ready to do some more beating?” he said and prepared the ingredients and utensils for the icing.

“Yep!”

After much beating, Sanji got a spoon and scooped a tiny bit of the buttercream icing out of the bowl. He offered the spoon to Ace, intending for him to grab it with his hand, but Ace merely let Sanji hold the spoon as he tasted it. Ace made a hum of approval.

“That’s really good!” he said. Sanji grinned.

Ace grabbed the whisk, and before Sanji could ask him what he was doing, scraped a chunk of the green icing off with his finger and dabbed it on Sanji’s nose.

Sanji’s cheeks lit up. Normally he would detest such behaviour in his kitchen, but he couldn’t help but be charmed by Ace, who was grinning at him with something unreadable in his eyes. Sanji attempted to grab the whisk to get Ace back, but Ace held it out of reach, the two of them laughing while they fought. After a few minutes they were on the floor practically wrestling playfully like children over the whisk.

Sanji eventually relented. “Fine, you win. But we really ought to clean up,” Sanji said, getting to his feet. He offered Ace a hand up which Ace accepted but, in a moment of inspiration, Sanji swiped the icing off his own nose and dabbed it onto Ace’s. “There,” Sanji said, triumphantly.

Ace laughed and grabbed a tissue to clean off his nose. “You win.”

The two of them set about cleaning the dirty dishes they’d used. Sanji washed while Ace dried.

“I think the dough will have firmed up enough now,” Sanji said, after drying his hands with a tea towel. He set the oven to 325 degrees fahrenheit to preheat and then proceeded to line a tray with baking paper. After, he lightly dusted the countertop with flour and went to retrieve the dough from the freezer. “Ace, can you grab the Christmas tree cookie cutter? It’s in the third drawer to your right. Nami insisted I use it.”

“Got it,” Ace said, after retrieving the cutter. He watched as Sanji rolled the dough out on the floured surface. “The way you handle that dough is pretty hot, you know.”

Sanji’s eyes widened as he fumbled with the rolling pin. What the hell? He looked up at Ace, unsure of what to say.

Ace burst out laughing. “Your reaction was priceless! Totally worth it.”

“Ha ha. You’re so funny,” Sanji said, laced with sarcasm. He regained his composure. “Get over here and start cutting these trees before I whack you over the head with the rolling pin.”

“Yes, boss,” Ace said, poking his tongue out. Sanji rolled his eyes fondly and couldn’t help the colour that travelled to his cheeks. Why was Ace teasing him like this? And why was it getting to him so much? Yeah, the man was attractive and funny and kind and supportive and strong  — and okay maybe Sanji should stop listing his traits — but seriously, he hadn’t felt flustered like this — like a crushing teenager —  for a long time.

He sighed and calmed his beating heart. Ace was just having some fun. That’s what his personality was like. Nothing more to it.

“Are these okay, Sanji?” Ace asked. There was a knowing look in his eyes and Sanji had never felt quite so exposed.

Sanji looked at the trees he had cut out. “Perfect. We could probably make two more out of the remaining dough — let me just roll it out again.”

After the final trees were cut out, Sanji spaced them all evenly on the baking tray and placed the tray in the oven. “Give them ten minutes to bake and then we’ll let them cool before icing them.”

“You know, I wasn’t lying,” Ace said. He was stood opposite Sanji with his arms crossed, observing him.

Sanji raised an eyebrow. “About what?”

“You are hot, especially when you’re in your element.”

Sanji could feel his cheeks burning at the comment. How exactly was he meant to respond to that?

He tried to play it cool and placed a cigarette between his lips. “Says you. Someone who can literally wield fire.”

That got a laugh out of Ace. And since when had Ace come so close to him? He held his finger up to Sanji’s cigarette. “Need a light?”

But before Sanji could respond, the kitchen door was thrown open and in came a tumbling Luffy. Ace and Sanji separated.

“I smell cookies!” Luffy yelled.

“They’re not ready yet,” Ace said.

Luffy looked at Ace and then to Sanji. “Eh? Why does Ace get to be in here when I’m never allowed? He loves food just as much as me!”

“Unlike you, your brother can show restraint when it comes to food. That’s why,” Sanji said.

“Sanji’s playing favourites,” Luffy huffed. “I see how it is.”

“Hardly,” Ace said, shaking his head. “Come on, Luffy. Let’s spar. It’s been a long time.”

Luffy pouted. “But cookies!”

“They’re not ready, so you may as well kill some time,” Sanji said.

“Fine.”

Ace and Luffy left the kitchen. Sanji was left alone and reminded of the unlit cigarette in his mouth and how close Ace had been. The heat returned to his cheeks just thinking about it. He went outside for a smoke but mostly to clear his head.

—

Happy that the cookies were cool enough to ice, Sanji went to fetch Ace from the gym. Instead, he ended up bumping into him as Ace was coming out of the bathroom. He was freshly bathed and smelled minty.

“The cookies are ready to ice if you want to help?” Sanji said, hopeful.

Ace grinned. “Of course!”

When they got back to the kitchen, the room had that ever-popular Christmas cookie scent to it — a pleasant mix of lemon, rosemary, and sweetness. It was a scent that Sanji would never get sick of. Evidently, Ace felt the same as he breathed in the smell and sighed contentedly.

“They smell so good,” Ace said, joining Sanji by the benchtop.

Sanji snapped one of the cookies in two and offered half to Ace. “Taste tests are crucial,” he said, winking, before trying his half of the cookie. It tasted good. Sweet, smooth, and buttery but with a nice twist of lemon and a slightly savoury note from the rosemary. It melted in his mouth just as good shortbread should. He was pleased.

Ace hummed in delight as he finished munching on the cookie. “That was good! To think I actually helped make something that didn’t kill tastebuds.”

Sanji grinned and pulled Ace across to where he had already prepared the green icing into a piping bag.

“How did your spar with Luffy go?” he asked. He lifted up the piping bag and iced the first Christmas tree cookie, ensuring Ace was watching.

Ace watched attentively. “It was good. He’s gotten a lot stronger. I’m really proud of him,” he said.

Sanji smiled and passed the piping bag to Ace. Ace accepted it and squeezed the icing out with a shaky hand, resulting in some missing the cookie. “How did you make this look so easy?”

Sanji chuckled and stood right next to him. “Here,” he said, and grabbed hold of the hand Ace was using to pipe. It was warm against his own cool one. Sanji idly wondered if that was a result of Ace’s devil fruit. He guided his hand along the edges of the tree before finally filling in the middle.

Of course it was at that moment that Brook’s piano rendition of All I Want for Christmas is You, accompanied by the singing of all the Straw Hats, echoed its way inside the kitchen.

I just want you for my own
More than you could ever know

Sanji let go of Ace’s hand and was about to take a step away when Ace turned and stopped him and pointed up to the ceiling. Sanji looked up. He had forgotten about the mistletoe dangling above.

Make my wish come true
All I want for Christmas is you

Ace cradled Sanji’s face and Sanji could feel his cheeks redden and his heart beat escalating at a rapid rate. He closed his eyes and Ace pressed a kiss to his lips. Sanji melted against him, gladly welcoming the turn of events. He tasted sweet, like the Christmas cookies they had just sampled. The song carried on playing in the background, but Sanji hardly noticed, too focused on the man embracing him.

But of course the kitchen door was then, once again, thrown open. Sanji and Ace separated in a flash.

“Are the cookies ready yet?” Luffy asked.

“No!” Ace and Sanji responded in unison.

Luffy looked at Sanji and Ace and tilted his head. “You know if you two weren’t so busy making out then those cookies would be ready by now,” Luffy accused.

Ace and Sanji both spluttered, at a loss for words.

“Luffy! Bail!” Sabo said in a hushed tone and grabbed Luffy by the neck of his shirt. He turned to Ace and Sanji. “We’ll just be leaving,” he said with his most reassuring smile — which wasn’t all that reassuring. He dragged Luffy out of the kitchen, much to the man’s dismay, and closed the door behind him.

“Well,” Ace said.

“Well,” Sanji said.

“We should probably finish icing those cookies now, right?”

Sanji chuckled. “Yeah.”

Ace pressed a kiss to Sanji’s cheek before picking up the piping bag. “Show me again?”

Sanji grinned, his cheeks tinted red. “Sure.”

Brook had moved onto playing Silent Night, the rest of the crew joining in.

As a child, Sanji had never understood Christmas. But now, he was beginning to understand. It wasn’t the decorations or gifts. It was the people. It was his crew and their friends. Sanji didn’t know how he had got so lucky. (Later, Ace would tell him that Sanji didn’t just get lucky, the crew did too.)

As for those Christmas cookies? Luffy grew impatient and forced his way back into the kitchen, eating a bunch of them. Nobody was surprised.