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“SANJI!” Luffy shouts as soon as the transponder snail connects and snatches it from Usopp. “Sanji! We’re coming to get you, just stay where you are!” Chopper stands next to Brook, pouting as he looks up at Luffy with teary eyes. “You’re my Cook. And I need you to be here with me,” Luffy declares firmly, the fire of his heart reflected in his eyes and Brook pats Chopper on the head, reassuring him that it’ll all turn out just fine. Usopp takes ahold of Luffy’s arm and leans forward to yell at the person on the other end of the line, “Don’t you dare get married to someone I don’t even know, Sanji!” The sniper’s tone is playful but his brows are furrowed with worry and uncertainty and he fidgets with his goggles as Nami snatches the transponder snail out of Luffy’s hands. “Sanji-Kun!” Suddenly, there’s a sharp intake of breath on the other end and finally a voice, “Nami-San…”
“Sanji! Did you listen? We’re coming to–“ Franky puts his hand on Luffy’s mouth in order to let Sanji talk. “You guys… I’m– I don’t know–“ There’s a quiet shuffling noise and a few footsteps before Sanji goes on, his voice surprisingly clear, “I’ll come back to you. Definitely. Just– Give me time, alright? But whatever you do – don’t come here!” Luffy scowls and glares at the transponder snail, unable to grab it, though, because of Franky’s iron grasp on him. “Oi, Sanji!” he shouts instead, “What are you talking about! Of course we’re coming to get you, you’re–“
“If he says don’t come, we’re not going, Luffy.” Seven heads whip around at the sudden low voice coming from behind them and Luffy frowns at Zoro, confusion written all over his face. “Why wouldn’t we, Zoro? It’s what we do! We can’t leave Sanji–“
“That idiot’s right, Luffy. Please, for the love of everything good in this world, do not come and get me, it’ll only make things more complicated. I’ll figure something out.” The tone of his voice softens ever so slightly as he adds a quiet, “Promise.”
Luffy huffs and opens his mouth to protest but doesn’t get the chance as Robin suddenly motions for Nami to hand the transponder snail to her. Instead of speaking to Sanji, however, she merely passes it on to Zoro, who’s eyes widen slightly in surprise. “Why are you giving that to me?” he asks blankly and blinks in confusion but Robin just winks and gives him one of her mysterious smiles as she replies, “You two aren’t really as good at hiding things as you believe.”
A faint blush creeps up on the bridge of Zoro’s nose and despite the solemn situation, Nami has to suppress a giggle. “Oi, guys. Robin-Chan? Was that you?” Sanji’s voice interrupts their conversation all of a sudden and Zoro’s eye snaps back to the transponder snail still in his hands. He keeps staring at it without saying a word, eye widened in discomfort, like he’s waiting for it transform into Sanji all of sudden. Zoro starts to count to ten in his head until Sanji on the other end starts muttering to himself, “…Hello? …Maybe this thing’s broken…?” Zoro then finally clears his throat and says, “It’s me.” He holds the transmitter up to his mouth when he speaks and his voice is steady but Chopper notices the faint tremor in his hands.
Sanji’s muttering abruptly stops and there’s silence as the Straw Hats all watch Zoro, eyes glued to the transponder snail he’s holding, waiting for Sanji's reaction. Zoro keeps breathing, his chest rising and falling in a way that’s too controlled to be natural, and just as he’s about to hand the transponder snail back to Robin upon getting no response from Sanji, he decides to answer. “You,” he says, his voice barely above a whisper, and Zoro’s hand instinctively grips the transponder snail tightly as he presses the receiver closer to his ear.
“Why don’t we give them some privacy while they… talk?” Brook suggests quietly, breaking the silence and clearing a bit of the electric air around them. Chopper nods along enthusiastically and agrees, “Yes, let’s go and find something to eat.” Luffy’s eyes light up at those words and Nami and Robin follow Franky out of the kitchen, who’s being dragged away Luffy. “We’ll get you, Sanji!” Luffy yells back over his shoulder before the door closes, leaving behind only Zoro and Usopp.
Usopp gives Zoro a reassuring pat on the back and a wordless thumbs-up. He grins at the dumbstruck expression on Zoro’s face and turns around to leave the kitchen as well, closing the door behind him with a quiet thud. And just like that, Zoro’s left alone. Well, not alone exactly, he thinks, as his gaze travels back down to the transponder snail he’s still clutching, and despite the minutes of silence, he knows it’s still connected.
He waits a few more seconds for his thoughts to settle before he asks, “So you really left, huh?” It’s an empty question and he knows it doesn’t deserve an answer, yet he still presses the receiver more firmly to his ear when he hears Sanji swallowing on the other end. “I really left, yeah.”
“To get married,” Zoro points out matter-of-factly but there’s a sharp edge to his voice and the words leave a disgusting taste in his mouth.
Sanji sighs quietly and Zoro can make out the sounds of a lighter being used. He closes his eye and can almost picture Sanji lighting himself a cigarette, taking a long drag from it and exhaling the smoke into the air like it’s the best thing he’s ever tasted. “They do want me to get married, yes.”
“And do you… plan on getting married?” Zoro asks and the carelessness with which he says those words contrasts deeply with how white his knuckles have turned, clutching the receiver and the way his heart’s pounding in his chest as if it’s trying to run from the answer. “Of course not, Stupid Mosshead.” The reply comes like a bullet, harsh and blunt and quick, but the insult holds a familiarity and gentleness to it that makes Zoro’s chest tingle and his stomach jolt. “Alright,” he whispers and his lips brush against the transmitter as he speaks and he hopes Sanji knows what he really wants to say is I’m glad.
There’s more silence after that and Zoro’s beginning to understand just how bad he really is with words. Being with Sanji has always been so easy and natural, like his body instinctively knows what to do and how to act but now, with Sanji being so far away and his only means of communication being words, Zoro finds it quite fucking difficult to find the right ones. “Anyways,…” Sanji clears his throat and tries to start the conversation again, “You don’t need to worry. I’ll figure things out here and come back to you all as soon as possible.”
Zoro’s breath hitches in his throat and he shuts his eye tightly. “Actually. You can take your time. Don’t rush anything, Cook, we all know how bad you are with stress.” That didn’t quite come out like he wanted it to. Sanji huffs but he can hear the amusement in his voice and Zoro relaxes. Of course, he understands what he really meant.
“Don’t worry, I’ll be fine. Luffy needs me to cook for him, though. Can’t leave a future pirate king waiting too long, now can I?” Sanji remarks, a smile in his voice, and all Zoro wants to do is yell at the receiver that it’s him who needs Sanji the most. Instead, he just grins and says, “Actually, it’s been quite calm since you left, Shit Cook. There’s no one constantly nagging me.“ The words ‘I miss you’ are left unspoken and Zoro’s grin falters as they weigh heavy on his chest and make it hard to breathe.
Sanji laughs airily and Zoro wishes Sanji wasn’t miles away right now, so he could see the way his eyes squeeze shut and his nose scrunches up as he laughs. He can’t, though, and all he has is this static, cheap copy of his voice. Zoro opens his eye again, the mental image of Sanji too much for him to handle right now and he decides to focus on breathing instead. He didn’t even say goodbye.
“I’m gonna kill you when you come back,” Zoro mumbles and pauses, “For leaving.” Sanji stops laughing then and Zoro hates how his voice failed him at the end, breaking pathetically, and he opens his mouth to say something else but Sanji beats him to it. “I’d like to see you try, Idiot,” he whispers and to Zoro it’s a promise. A promise to come back to him, unspoken words of reassurance, masked by their usual, familiar teasing, to let him know that it’ll be alright. Zoro knows that Sanji isn’t weak, he knows that Sanji can very well stand his own ground, that he can deal with whatever’s going on right now but those truths neither stop his heart from pounding rapidly in his chest nor his throat from tightening in fear of what if’s. He swallows thickly and they lapse back into silence. Zoro lets his eye roam the room and he catches sight of Sanji’s apron hanging from the closet and his cooking utensils still out on the counter and if he keeps staring at it, it almost feels like Sanji will come barging into the room any second now, complaining about something and blaming him for things he didn’t do.
“I should probably hang up now. They’ll come looking for me soon enough…” Sanji pulls Zoro out of his thoughts and Zoro sighs silently as he’s brought back to reality, the apparent absence of Sanji something he’d rather forget.
His eye lingers on the apron as he replies, “We talked long enough anyway. This is supposed to be my Shit-Cook-free-time, after all.” The words fall from his lips slowly and cautiously and somehow, his voice is steady enough not to betray the aching in his chest and Zoro would thank all the Gods for that, if he believed in them. Sanji just huffs, right into his ear, and Zoro feels a shiver running down his spine as he can almost feel Sanji's warm breath on his face. “Tell the others to stay put.” There’s another heavy pause, like Sanji’s considering his next words. “See you, Marimo,” is what he settles for in the end, his voice wavering just the slightest bit.
The goodbye hangs in the air between them, neither of them hanging up and Zoro grips the transmitter tightly and closes his eye again. “Sanji…” he whispers into the silence and imagines ocean blue eyes lighting up at the mention of his name. “Be careful.” (I love you)
“I’ll be back before you know it, Marimo,” (I know) Sanji whispers in return before he hangs up and Zoro’s left with a sleeping transponder snail and a receiver pressed to his ear. He sits in the dark room in silence and stares at the apron, willing his fingers to uncurl. Somehow, Zoro doubts that very much.
I hate trying to put my desire into words when my body knows exactly what to say. Come home. (You can’t start a fire without a spark.)