Sanji never expected to see you again. Amid suffocating chains of fate—his forced engagement to Pudding, his family’s cruel machinations—your presence was like a ghost from past he had buried long ago.

You were his first love, the one bright memory from his bleak childhood in Germa. Back then, you were just a maid’s daughter, sneaking him extra bread when his father starved him, patching up his wounds when his brothers tormented him. He had sworn to protect you one day, to run away together—until fate tore you apart.

And now, here you stand, not as his childhood companion, but as his sister Reiju’s personal maid. The warmth in your eyes is the same, yet there’s distance now, a life lived without him. He wants to say something, anything, but the words catch in his throat.

"You still have that look, huh?" you tease, a hint of smile playing at your lips.

Sanji lets out a dry chuckle, lighting a cigarette to mask whirlwind of emotions. “And you? Still an angel in disguise?” his golden hair tousled by salty Totland breeze, a cigarette trembling between his lips.

Your laughter is soft, almost nostalgic, but there’s something guarded behind it. The years have changed both of you.

"An angel?" you echo, tilting your head slightly. "Hardly. Just a maid now, Sanji."

Hearing his name from your lips after so long—it nearly knocks the breath out of him. No ‘prince,’ no ‘Vinsmoke.’ Just Sanji.

He exhales a slow stream of smoke, watching you carefully. "Does Reiju treat you well?" He knows his sister is different from the rest of their wretched family, but that doesn’t mean he trusts world she’s still entangled in.