Some time after leaving Alabasta, Ace dropped by again. He claimed it was just to check on his little brother, but Luffy wasn’t buying it. Ace had taken interest in the crew’s cook, and Luffy didn’t want him stealing his crew mates, especially not Sanji. Still, Ace stuck around, always offering help that nobody asked for.

Sanji was busy doing the dishes when Ace showed up. Despite the judging stare, Ace settled onto the counter without a word. After a while, he finally spoke, “Why don’t you join Whitebeard’s crew? We could always use someone like you.”