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It's a warm, breezy day out on the ocean. The sun is shining, and everything's going typically, well, as normal as it can be with the Straw Hat crew.
"Luffy! Wait—" Usopp shouts, running after Luffy, but he ends up tripping over poor Chopper and face-planting onto the deck. Nami winces. Luffy bursts out laughing and slowly pads his way over to the mess he's made. "Need some help?" the captain offers. Not really thinking, Usopp accepts Luffy's hand only to be flung forward again. Luffy only did that to get Usopp off of their doctor.
"Uhhh...." the snipper groans, trying his best to sit up.
A shadow blocks the man's view, so he looks up and sees another one of his crew mates. "Get up; Franky needs to speak with you," the blonde cook speaks down to the man on the ground. Usopp sighs and stands up, brushing himself off. "Thanks, Sanji...." The snipper stares daggers at the cook as he walks away.
"You know," Zoro starts, climbing the ladder up to the crow's nest. "You can try to be nicer to him," the green-haired swordsman remarks.
Sanji takes a drag of his cigarette.
"Whatcha say, Marimo?" The cook pads over to the swordsman and stares daggers at him. "You do know that being nice to your male crewmates can't kill you.—" Zoro's words were cut off by a kick to his arm.
"Lunch will be ready in ten!" he shouts to the rest of the crew.
Zoro rolls his eye as he makes his way over to the bath. He needs to have a shower before he eats......
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In the shower, the cool water runs down his muscles- -I mean down his body.... (I can't keep a straight mind writing stuff like this, lol) He lathers some soap between the palms of his hands and rubs it over all himself......
Anyway, after he's done showering, he quickly dries off and puts on some clean clothes. He heads down to the men's quarters and gets turned around. Well, more like to him, the ship's rooms have moved around again. Sure....that's exactly what's happened. A few minutes later, he eventually manages to find it.
Plopping his dirty clothes in his bin, he leaves the room. A soft breeze blows in through his damp hair, making it feel nice and calming. That is until he hears a voice.
"Zoro!" A fast incoming voice calls out to him, crashing into him and knocking him on his ass. "Luffy—how many times have—"
"Lunch is ready!" the captain shouts, getting off of the man and extending a hand out to him.
"No. I saw what you did to Usopp. I'm not falling for that," he blaintingly stares, getting up himself. "Awe~ You're no fun," Luffy pouts. The two make their way to the galley and sit down to eat.
Halfway into the meal, Zoro gets an odd feeling.
He isn't sure how to explain it, but it just feels off in a way.... He finishes his plate and places it into the sink. As he turns around, the room starts spinning. He hastily makes his way outside into the fresh air. Walking down the stairs, he drags his left hand along the railing for support. He doesn't want to fall on the—.....never mind, I won't finish that sentence.
As soon as the feeling started, it stopped.
'Oh......' he thinks. It finally hits him. He's had some problems with anxiety in the past. Sometimes, when he's in a stressful situation with the cook, his anxiety flares inwardly.
He hasn't had a full-blown panic attack in quite a long time. He'll be fine.
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It's been almost four days without an 'incident.' The incident means Zoro and Sanji haven't fought yet. Things have been going strangely normal.... This is quite weird.
"Oi!" Sanji shouts from the kitchen.
Luffy darts out of the kitchen with his hands over his mouth and sweat running down his face. At this point, the deck is completely void of people. It's already dark out, so they're probably settling into their beds for the night. Zoro's on the lookout, so he's watching this all unfold. Amused, mind you. The cook is running around, chasing their captain as Luffy is trying his best not to spit out all the food he's just stolen. The green-haired swordsman chuckles and then turns his attention back to the open ocean. So vast and beautiful but frightening at the same time. There's just something about the ocean that Zoro finds captivating and enthralling.
He rests his chin on his hands on the windowsill.
'Nothing,' he thinks with a tired brain.
"Oi, Mossy-for-brains! Did Luffy come up here??" the cook growls from the open hatch.
'When did he get up here??' Zoro wonders. He shakes his head. No offense Zoro, but your observation of Haki sucks.
"I swear, if you're lying—"
"I'm not."
"Whatever," the cook scoffs and leaves.
"Nice seeing you too~" Zoro scoffs back at the blonde idiot descending the ladder. The sinking feeling comes back, but the swordsman is determined not to allow this to overtake him.
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Thankfully, Zoro got some sleep last night. Brook came into the crow's nest around three in the morning to switch shifts. The green haired swordsman wakes up in his bunk. 'Ugh,' he thinks, feeling a sharp pain in his head. 'Shit....I bet this was all from the yelling that's been going on lately-' his thoughts were interrupted by a raising feeling in his throat. He whips out of bed and stumbles straight for the railing outside. He knows that if he tries to find the bathroom, he'll just end up getting lost and throwing up all over the floor. As the projectile vomits off the side of the ship, he hears nothing but the sound of ringing in his ears. He drops to the deck and covers his mouth, shaking and feeling a cold sweat run through him like a runner in a marathon.
He turns around and—
"Where is everyone?" he whispers to himself.
He shakily stands up and looks around. The ringing in his ears has stopped, and he hears faint voices coming from the kitchen. 'Breakfast? No.....maybe? Would they've- never mind,' he stops thinking about it and makes his way up to the galley.
"Zoro!" Luffy calls out.
"We we're just about to come get you, yohoho," Brook states.
"Come sit," Nami offers.
He nods and goes to take his seat, giving a second to glance at the cook. His back is turned to them, and by his demeanor, he seems angry. Zoro furrows his brow but decides not to speak up about it. He doesn't want to make a scene this early in the morning....' Wait, why's everyone up so early? The cook isn't even done with the food yet....Did he get up late?—What time—What's going on?' A million thoughts run through his head. He still feels quite shaky and nauseous.
Should he speak up?
No
He'll be fine. Like he always is....always dealing with stuff alone. Constantly pushing himself past his limit....
"Food's ready," the cook bluntly states, glaring at Luffy. The captain looks sad, with his head hanging low.
'Maybe it's from last night?' the green-haired swordsman wonders, feeling his stomach flip-flopping about. Nami seems to notice this in the tense atmosphere. She leans forward and whispers, "You feeling alright, Zoro?"
Zoro lifts his gaze from his lap to her eyes. He slightly nods, shaking.
Everyone seems to take note. He's told Chopper, Nami, and Luffy about his anxiety. The rest of the crew, well, they just kinda figured something was up. Maybe he's sick this time?
"Eat up before it gets cold." The cook hands out the rest of the plates, not caring about what they were just talking about. Everyone slowly digs in. On the other hand, Zoro hasn't it up to here with the cook being rude to everyone. Trying to keep his voice from shaking, he speaks up, "Oi, Ero-cook. What's got you so riled up this morn—"
"Think."
A simple word leaves the cook's mouth.
Zoro stares on, not saying a single word.
"What? Not a single thought in your head—oh wait. You don't even have a brain between all that moss on your head, so I'll explain. I'm tired of all of you- not you, Robin-chan, or Nami-swan," he fawns over the ladies. "Stealing food in the middle of the night. Especially you, Luffy," he calls out the captain, who, mind you, looks like he's just seen his own grave.
"You can stop being so rude, for starters. Not all of us steal food from your precious kitchen," Zoro reasons.
The majority agrees with a nod. "If you need to get some sleep, I'll take full take over dish duty today," the green-haired swordsman offers. Everyone goes from side glancing at Sanji to whipping their heads around to stare at Zoro. They're all confused as hell about why Zoro's acting so nice. "That's nice of you, Zoro..." Nami speaks up, breaking the tension.
"I agree," Robin speaks up with a smile.
"Whatever," the blonde cook retorts, throwing a dish rag into the sink and dragging his fingers down his face.
Everyone finishes eating, and frankly, by the end of it. Zoro's looks like shit. He looks pale, and his shaking has gotten worse.
He's sick
"Zoro, you know you don't—" Usopp tries to speak up, but he's interrupted by the green haired swordsman. "I'm fine; I can do it. After all, I've been putting off doing this for a little bit now." He has gestures to the kitchen sink. Usopp gives up. He knows he can't persuade Zoro from doing anything the man doesn't want to do.
Everyone files out, all except for Zoro and Sanji. The cook silently watches from the other side of the room with his head on the table. He slowly starts to drift off.
'He's being a pain in everyone's asses lately. Maybe it's the low amount of sleep?' he chuckles, 'maybe it's Luffy. He's always stealing food; maybe it's finally caught up to the cook,' the green-haired swordsman thinks.
"Something funny, Mossy?"
Zoro hears from behind him. He doesn't bother turning around.
"You know it's rude to ignore someone when they're talking to you," the cook spits with pent-up frustration. Zoro sighs, "go to your bunk—"
"Shut up already."
To Zoro, he sounds like a little kid throwing a tantrum or getting upset because they didn't get the answer they wanted.
"Look, I know we don't usually get on each other's good sides, but I'm just looking out for you. You're tired and upset—"
"Am not."
"You are, now go—"
"You can't order me around, dipshit. Only Luffy is supposed to give orders. Not. You." The tone in the cook's voice gets louder and angrier.
"Do what you want then, you never listen to Luffy anyway," the swordsman mumbles the last part.
"Say it again. I dare you, idiot swordsman."
He hears the cook getting up. He tenses even more than he was before. Zoro's still feeling quite unwell after all. He swallows thickly as he waits for the cook to make the first move. The swordsman places the dish he's holding in his hands into the sink. "C—"
Sanji strikes at Zoro but misses.
Zoro leaps out of the way and over towards his swords, unsheathing Wado as he darts out of one of the galley doors. Sanji soon follows behind. By this point, everyone had vacated the deck. They're somewhere else on the ship, not wanting to see the two fighting. Nami, still keeping in mind that Zoro isn't feeling well, goes to see Chopper in the meantime.
The standoff on the deck seems very tense. Zoro, back towards the mast and front facing the galley/kitchen. "Cook, just—get some sleep. It'll—"
"Shut up."
'He's not listening. How else can I-'
Zoro's eye goes wide once he's attacked. His reaction is a bit slow, but he stays on his feet. Quickly spinning around, he comes face to face with Sanji's shoe.
The cook kicks him in the face. He stumbles back, feeling something coming out of his nose.
'Can't give up. Can't lose,' he thinks, readying his stance.
Sanji charges again, but this time with a more sloppy skill. Zoro uses the blunt side of his sword to block the cook's attack. He makes a grave mistake, though. Thinking that the cook is giving up, the swordsman lowers his sword in the slightest; the cook takes this opportunity to swing down hard with his leg.
Zoro yelps and falls to the ground, holding the side of his head and dropping Wado to the ground.
He's never done that on purpose before. He hates the sound of swords dropping or being disrespected by mistreating them.
"Tch, I didn't even hit you that hard. Fucking moron," the cook spits with venom in his words. He turns around and walks back to, presumably, the kitchen. Zoro watches as the cook disappears out of sight before letting out a weak, pathetic sob. Taking a hand off of the side of his head, he almost faints. He then hears something falling in the kitchen. His other two swords are thrown onto the grassy part of the deck.
"Keep your shit out of the galley." Just as soon as the cook arrived, he disappeared.
Red
Blood
Lots of blood
Gold?
Earring...
In his right hand, he holds an earring from his left ear, which is still attached to a chunk of his earlobe.
He's shaking badly now. He feels like throwing up again. 'Holy fuck.....that bastard took this too far, huh?' he stops thinking to look around. It's blurry. Is he—
Crying?.....
After finally mustering up the strength to stand up, he sniffles and tries his best to wipe his tears away. His ear is throbbing, as well as his stomach and his nose is bleeding. The look probably breaks it off of things. He's going to throw up again. Quickly, he rushes to his left and throws up into the ocean over the railing. Wiping his mouth with the back of his hand, he staggers out a few breaths, trying to steady them. He's failing...
He can't breathe normally.
Can't breath
'Why can't I breathe—shit! I—I need to calm down. Stay strong,' he thinks as he wanders into the ship. Blood is still streaming down his left arm as he holds his ear as well as down his neck.
When he finally gets to the infirmary, he shakily knocks on the door frame.
"Oh, Zoro," Chopper quickly acknowledges before turning back to the papers on his desk. Without looking, he asks, "What's up? Did you two get hurt again? I heard you guys fighting...Zoro?—Holy shit!" When the green-haired swordsman wasn't answering him, he turned over to see what was wrong. The first thing he sees is blood on his arms, hands, shirt, neck—and face.
Chopper almost faints.
"What—are—get in here!" the small reindeer demands, hopping off his chair to close the door. Zoro pads shakily in but slowly over to the other chair in the room to sit down. Chopper quickly turns into human form and pulls up a swivel chair next to the chair. "C—can I see?" the little reindeer asks, looking worriedly into Zoro's good eye.
Zoro sniffles and slowly takes his hand off of the left side of his head. Chopper gasps at the sight before him. There's quite a large chunk taken out of his ear. Chopper then looks up to Zoro. He gestures with his eye to his right hand. He opens it to reveal the chunk of ear and an earring. He feels himself tearing up. He never cries in front of anyone, especially Chopper and the cook. But at the moment, he feels like breaking down into tears. Why's he so emotional lately? Is it because he's sick?
He never thought the cook was capable of doing something like this to his trusted friends or captain, but alas, the cook wasn't thinking properly. The man's over-tired and taking it out on everyone.
The green haired swordsman looks away from the small doctor's worrying gaze. 'Don't cry. Don't cry. Don't cry. Don't cry. Be strong. You've got this.... S—stay strong. Don't cry,' he repeats the same phrases in his head, trying his best. The small doctor can see he's trying his best to hold everything back. So, being the sweetheart he is, Chopper doesn't say anything.
"I'm going to sew your ear back together. Don't worry!" the reindeer reassures him, trying his best not to show how scared he is. Chopper hates seeing those two fighting almost everyday. Whether it be verbally or physically, he's tired of it. It isn't something Chopper can always handle, seeing friends hurting each other.
The small doctor makes Zoro lie on the bed in the room and try his best to take the other two remaining earrings out.
Zoro flinches at the sudden feeling of his earrings being taken out. It feels.....off in a way. Almost nauseating.
Once done, he tells the swordsman to lay flat first. Chopper soon gets to work on administering anesthetics so the green-haired man can barely feel anything. It takes a couple of minutes, but he doesn't want Zoro to feel anymore pain. Keeping in mind that Zoro doesn't like needles, he tells the man to close his eyes and think bout something else.
"Okay, this is going to sting. I'm just disinfecting the area," Chopper says whilst putting rubbing alcohol on his ear.
The swordsman flinches slightly.
"I'm sorry," Zoro lowly croaks, almost whimpers out. He can hear his own voice, and oh boy, does he think he sounds utterly pathetic. He's hurting in more ways than one, and the reindeer knows this.
"For what?" the reindeer asks.
"Worrying—you..."
Chopper lets out a soft chuckle, "It's my duty to worry about you guys. I'm here to help you all, no matter how severe your wounds are." He's referring to a general you. Zoro quickly but absentmindedly flashes a smile that lasts all of a second.
A tear rolls down his face as he overthinks the needle. The reindeer wipes it away and continues to work the needle into the man's ear. The swordsman starts shaking and clenching his fists.
"Breathe, I'm almost done," the reindeer reassures. "Okay, turn your head to the side, please," the small doctor instructs. Zoro listens to the small doctor for once and slightly turns his head to the side. The nauseous feeling comes back, and the whole room starts spinning.
"Can you hurry up, please.." Zoro says in a soft tone, not many have ever heard before.
"...almost....done!" Chopper states as Zoro turns back on his back.
The small doctor, lastly places a bandage over the stitches he's just given.
"Now," the reindeer starts, "be careful for the next week or so. In about four to five days, I wanna check up on you and see how you're healing up, but right now, you can go change into some different clothes."
Zoro nods and sits up slowly. The room starts spinning again, but he ignores it.
"Wait, don't leave yet. Your nose looks broken. Here...." the small doctor trails off as he gets close to the swordsman's face to put it back into place. "Ready. On my count, I'm going to set it back into place."
The man nods.
"One......two.......three!" With one quick motion, Chopper, with a crack, sets Zoro's nose back in place. The swordsman groans and ends up letting out a broken-sounding chuckle.
"Okay, here you go. I'm just gonna put a splint on it; then you can go. Please be careful for the next little while. I can't stress this enough."
Zoro nods. Meekly smiling, he leaves the room, shuffling down the halls to the men's quarters. It takes longer than expected cause the walls feel like they're moving, but he finally makes it there.
As he enters the room, he hears a few loud gasps.
"Zoro!" a male voice shouts. He slowly turns his head to look at whomever it is. "Are you okay?? Go see—" It's Usopp.
"I already have..." the green-haired swordsman quietly states, feeling a twinge of pain in his head. "What happened, Zoro-bro? Cause that doesn't look too super at all," Franky speaks up.
Zoro staggers a breath out as he shuffles over to their bathroom to clean the blood off of his face, neck, and wherever else.
Yes, the males have their own bathroom, and no, it's not as disgusting as you'd think. There's still a huge mess in there, though.
"Zoro?" Luffy interjects.
The green-haired swordsman looks away from the mirror, all puffy-eyed and with a glazed-over eye. He weakly smiles and sniffles, trying his best to hold back his nausea.
He swallows and sharply breathes out into almost a whimper. "I'll—I'll be fine, guys. Don't worry bout me. The cook and I just had a—......" he stops to catch his breath. "A little disagreement is all," he repeats. All the males in the room, Luffy, Usopp, Franky, and Brook, can all hear his voice on the verge of breaking. Zoro starts swaying slightly from side to side. Luffy takes note and pads over to him. Zoro isn't letting go of the bathroom sink, nor is he lifting his head to look at himself in the mirror.
A gentle hand on Zoro's back makes him collapse to the ground, sobbing. He can't hold it back anymore. He hates being the weak in front of his respected crew mates and captain for crying out loud. He covers his face and hangs his head low. All except Luffy leave the room to give the man whatever of his dignity is left. The captain lowers himself to Zoro's level. He sees that his first mate won't let go of the sides of his face, so he stands up with a pat on the man's head.
"Keep this safe for me," a soft voice Zoro's only heard a few times comes out of his captain's mouth. A straw hat is placed onto the green haired swordsman's head. He quickly looks up, tears streaming down his face and clouding his vision. Even that can't block the bright smile he sees before him.
Luffy then leaves the room.
He's all alone now....
Alone
Cold?
A shiver runs through his body, and the nausea comes back with a brutal hit. He quickly takes off Luffy's hat and hangs it up by the string on the doorknob. He lunges to the toilet with all the strength he can muster up and hangs his head low as he throws up again. A sob escapes his lips. He chuckles, thinking that if someone saw him like this, they'd think he was pathetic...
He is pathetic
Weak
Not strong enough
Sick....
He flushes it and tries to stand up, but he can't. His legs feel like jello, and his whole body feels weird. You know, that sick kinda weird....Empty is a better word. He finally manages to stand up, but not without a low whimper. Taking advantage of this moment, he washes himself of the blood that is threatening to dry on his skin.
He carefully removes his shirt to avoid accidentally hitting his wounds.
He takes another look at himself.
"Pathetic," he states, staring himself down in the mirror. Feeling really weak again, he decides to get some rest. Maybe some rest will help?...
He takes his captain's hat with him and shuffles over to his bunk. He hangs the hat on the bunk's outside, above his head. He slowly lays in his bunk, first sitting up with one of his legs dangling off the side, scared to lay down. A few more tears fall down past his cheek to hit his thighs. He lets out a low sob as he rubs the tears out of his eyes. "St—upid....idiot. Don't be so weak....y—you—you have to be strong—" he reminds himself.
Lifting the other leg into his bunk, he carefully lays down on his back.
It hurts to lay on his other side. The blood rushes to a weird spot that doesn't feel good when he does that. So, he decides to lay on his back instead. Taking a hitched breath, he closes his eye. He feels cold, but as soon as he places his blanket over him, he gets too hot and ends up kicking it off.
When he finally settles, it's silent. No noise, it's perfect......
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"Keep this safe for me," Luffy says down to his first mate. His first mate looks up at him with a very teary eye. To say the least, it breaks Luffy's heart to see one of his strongest friends hurting so greatly. He smiles and leaves the men's quarter, leaving Zoro alone. He should be alone right now.....
"Luffy..." Usopp quietly speaks.
They all can still faintly hear the sobs of the man in the room behind them. They all feel their hearts breaking for the young swordsman. Nami and Robin come out of their room with confused expressions on their faces.
"What's—" Nami loudly tries to speak. The male gestured for her to be quiet. She furrows her brow and walks over to meet them in the middle of the deck. "What's wrong, captain-san?" Robin asks. "Did swordsman-san die?" she retorts.
"No!" Usopp whispers and shouts at her.
"Then, what happened?" Nami interjects. "It is Zoro, right?" she asks, looking around at their expressions. "Apparently, he and Sanji-bro had a big fight..." Franky explains.
"How bad?" Nami asks, crossing her arms.
Usopp clears their throat, "not sure. All we know is that we heard them yelling at each other in the kitchen, so we retreated into the men's quarters."
"I see..." Robin hums.
"Now swordsman-san is hurting in the men's quarters," Brook speaks up with a sad expression on his skeleton face.
Chopper then pads onto the deck. Robin picks him up and quickly brings the small doctor into her arms. She wants to hug something, something fuzzy. "Chopper, you know what happened to Zoro, right? Can you tell us?" Usopp asks.
The small doctor nods.
"All I can say is that, after their initial fight, Zoro came to me in the infirmary holding the side of his head. All I saw was...." The small reindeer tears up and hugs Robin tightly. "There was so much blood. They went too far, but I heard that Zoro's half of the story was that he was trying to defuse the situation."
"That never goes well," Nami retorts.
Chopper nods.
"What he told me was that after Sanji kicked him, he felt something wasn't right. He was referring to the fact that Sanji ripped off a large chunk of Zoro's earlobe. I think his earring caught on the fabric of his leg—" the reindeer explains.
"Wait!" Luffy suddenly speaks up, startling all of them. "Sanji did what?" Luffy almost growls in a low voice.
They've never heard their captain this angry at one of his crew members before.
"It was an accident...and frankly, I don't think Sanji knows what he did..." Chopper repeats. Luffy's had enough of his cook's behavior today. "Stay here and whatever you do or hear. Don't come into the kitchen," he firmly but calmly orders. He speed walks past everyone and over to the kitchen.
Everyone's frozen.
They've never seen Luffy so mad, even if he was in a fight, especially with one of his crew members.
"Where's his hat?" Nami asks, padding over to the Robin-Usopp-Chopper hug. "He gave it to Zoro to keep safe. That's how I knew he was going to do something stupid..." Usopp states, referring to their captain. The ginger girl nods, and Robin pulls her in a hug. Yes, their crew is dysfunctional half of the time, but it's never been this bad before. The sound of a transponder snail can be heard, breaking the silence.
Brook saunters over to the snail and picks it up.
"Yes? Who is it?"
"Trafalgar Law, is Mugiwara there?"
"Not at the moment. Can I take a message?"
"Well...it's just about.....Say, have you guys gotten the new paper yet?"
They all look at one another.
"No. Why? Is there something bad happening?" The skeleton asks.
"Well, yes and no. I heard Mugiwara in Dressrosa mention a brother that was there."
This gets their attention.
Brook brings the transponder snail down to Nami.
"He has another brother?" she asks.
Law hums, "it states on the second page, top left, that he's been captured by the celestial dragons as well as the revolutionary, Bartholomew Kuma."
The crew mates all gasp.
"What's the name of Luffy's other brother?" she asks.
A few seconds pass.
"Sabo. He's a revolutionary as well," Law explains. In Punk Hazard, Luffy talks about his two brothers a lot, even more after Dressrosa.
"That's right," Robin chimes in. "I met up with him within our two-year wait. He didn't seem to talk about anything Luffy-related, though. It's the memory loss," she states casually.
They all give her a look.
Nami slowly turns his attention back to the snail.
"Law. You still there?" she asks.
"Yes."
She hums before speaking. Think maybe she should mention anything.
"Um...You're good friends with Zoro, right?" she sniffles into the snail, trying her best to keep her composure.
A long silence follows.
"I suppose so. Why do you ask?"
"We're having a bit of a hard time at the moment, and I was wondering if you could...I don't know, talk with him."
"I'm not following. Did something happen to him? And...why can't you?"
"Fair point," she chuckles.
"Um...Zoro and Sanji-kun had a bit of a fight, and.....Well," her breath staggers, "he got injured."
"I'm still not seeing your point..." he slowly speaks, thinking about what she's saying.
She sniffles as she wipes some tears away.
"I'm asking you to comfort him. I've known him for a long enough time, and I know for a fact that he won't let any of us near him. Even—even if it's just to comfort him. He—.....he builds up these high walls for himself in order to not get hurt, but that way, he doesn't let anyone in either," she sobs, tears running down her face. "The last time I saw him really happy and opened up was when he was with you after the whole defeat of Doflamingo. He was laughing and smiling like he used to. He doesn't do that anymore..." she mutters the last part.
"..."
"I haven't seen him that happy since. So, please. Law, he needs you right now. You still there?" she asks.
Silence
Click
The snail closes its eyes.
She lets out a frustrated sigh, and Chopper pulls her into a big hug. Robin soon follows along with Usopp and Franky. Brook is being roped in by Franky.
They then all hear a
*WOOSH*
type noise.
They break their hug and look over.
"You came?" the ginger asks in disbelief.
"You were that close?" Usopp wonders.
The tall man nods. " yeah. I was informed that a ship was in sight of us, so naturally, I asked. Turns out it was your ship," he shrugs, stepping down off of the railing and onto the deck, holding his sword over his shoulder.
Nami stands up and pads over to him.
"Come with me," she meekly speaks out. "Thank you," she mutters out, leading the tall man over to the men's quarters.
"He's in here," she states, stopping before the door.
He nods, "I'm not sure how long I'll be," he admits.
She chuckles, "That's fine. Please, take care of him for us. We're counting on you."
She places a heartfelt hand on his shoulder before padding back to the rest of the crew mates.
He glances back before entering the room.
It's quiet
Peaceful?
No...
Law places his long sword up against Zoro's locker and quietly walks over. He bends down to face Zoro's sleeping face. The green-haired swordsman opens his eyes with a broken gaze. He'd never seen the swordsman look so gloomy before.
"Are you really here, or am I going crazy?" Zoro jokes.
Law smiles. "I'm really here," he reassures, brushing his fingers over the swordsman's cheek. Zoro leans into the touch and starts tearing up again.
"Don't cry, Zoro-ya....It'll be okay," Law tells the swordsman.
The green-haired swordsman weakly takes the taller man's hand off of his cheek to hold it in his hand. The swordsman lets out a soft chest sob, meaning an after-crying sob, and tries to calm yourself from the high of that cry sob. Law locks hands with the man, never breaking eye contact. "Law," Zoro weakly mutters as lingering tears roll down his cheek and onto the pillow below his head.
"Can you stay for a little while? I don't feel too well—and—and I...." he looks away. "I don't wanna be....alone."
The words shock the taller man.
Yes, Zoro's been open enough with him, but never like...this.....
"Of course."
Law looks around before looking back to Zoro.
"You—you can stay in here with me," the green-haired swordsman mutters out, seemingly feeling bashful. "Are you sure this is what you want, Zoro-ya?"
The swordsman slightly nods.
"Alright," Law gives in. He takes his shoes off and his coat, leaving them next to the window on the opposite side of the door on a chair. He then crawls into the bunk with Zoro. It's a little small for him, but he can manage. It's not like it's so small that he can't fit—no. It's more like he has to bend his knees slightly to fit into the box bed. Zoro turns to his right and cuddles up next to the taller man, who is placing an arm around the man's chest. Law blushes and doesn't want to move now. It's warm...and....nice....
They both drift off feeling warm and safe with each other. (Yay! Law's finally sleeping!)
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When Luffy left his crew mates on the deck, he went straight for the galley. He takes a breath before entering the room. Peering into the large room, he looks around; not seeing Sanji at first, he steps into the room.
"Sanji," Luffy calls out.
He hears a sniffle come from behind the counter, separating the kitchen from the galley. He pads over with a scowl on his face to see the blonde cook. He turns the corner and sees a blob hunched over on the floor. "Do you know what you did?" the captain asks in a cold tone. "I hurt them.....I haven't been getting enough sleep lately, and—and I took it out—on everyone!" Sanji sputters out with a few sobs.
Luffy doesn't say anything.
"Luffy, I'm so sorry," the cook looks up to his captain with red puffy eyes. He can, actually; we'll barely see Sanji's other eye. "I—I really didn't mean it—"
he sobs, seemingly in hysterics. The captain sighs and pads over to sit next to his cook.
He takes a glance at the cook before speaking. "You need to apologize to everyone, especially Zoro," the captain growls out, still angry. Sanji can hear it in the man's tone. He looks over to his captain, placing his head on his knees. "Yeah.....I took all my frustration out on him, didn't I?..."
"..."
"Luffy.....where is he? I know that he probably doesn't want to talk with—"
"Why should I tell you?"
The question strikes a nerve in the cook's heart. "What?"
"I don't trust you around him until you've gotten some sleep."
"......I—I don't—"
"Sanji, you hurt him really bad. I'm not just gonna let you see him just yet," Luffy coldly states. "Zoro's going to sleep somewhere else tonight. So, no, you can't go see him at all."
The words that his captain is speaking feel odd. He's really fucked up, huh?...
Luffy suddenly notices a new presence on the ship. Something familiar, though, something he's sensed before. 'Trao-o? What's he doing here?' Luffy thinks, getting up from the floor. Looking out the window, he sees Law standing on the deck with Nami.
"Lu-"
"Get up. You're going to apologize to the crew right now," Luffy calmly utters with a hint of the sense that he's holding something in his tone back. Turning back to his cook on the floor, he nods his head for him to get up.
The cook nods and shakily stands up, wiping his tears away.
They walk out of the galley, with Sanji being the first one to leave. The boys walk out into the sunlight and down over to the rest of the crew. The crew all stands up, and a few of them are scowling. Sanji is down on his knees and bows his head. "I'm really sorry for the way I've treated you all lately. It wasn't right of me in the slightest..." he apologizes, keeping his head down. A couple of seconds pass before he feels a touch on his head. He lifts his head to see Nami standing in front of him.
She has a cold, dead expression on her face. Something he's seen before..... A time when Luffy, Nami, Brook, Carrot, Chopper, Pekoms, and Pedro came to rescue and bring him back to Sunny. Nami gave him the same broken and hurt look. He feels like curling up into a ball and dying.
"We accept your apology, Sanji-kun, but you need to get some sleep first," she firmly states without a change in tone.
Cold
He nods and stands up.
Chopper suddenly comes back from somewhere in the ship and nods. "Alright, get your ass in the men's quarters and sleep. I don't wanna see you until tomorrow morning," she orders with a cold stare. He nods again and slowly passes off to the room.
It's dark and empty....
"I'm so sorry..." he whispers out, covering his face with his hands.
Outside, Chopper explains how he moves Zoro and Law into the infirmary.
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The rest of the day went like any other normal-ish day. Usopp and Nami helped cook for the rest of the crew. It was much calmer after that.
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The following morning, Sanji wakes up. It's still dark out, but not enough to be completely blinded by the dark. He gets out of bed and pads out onto the deck. He goes to the front of the ship to think....
'I wonder how the Marimo is doing....' he sighs and hangs his head low.
'I really should apologize to him....I hurt him the most out of everyone. He was even being nice to me yesterday. He offered to wash all of the dishes for the day, and I let my frustration get the better of me! I'm so stupid....how did I even get this lucky to have friends like this?.... It's all Luffy, it's always been Luffy. He rings people in with his caring nature and warm smiles,' he thinks, letting a tears fall from his eye as he lets out a small chuckle.
He hears a floorboard creak behind him.
Quickly wiping the tear away, he turns around.
"Luffy?"
"What're you doing out here?" he asks with crossed arms.
"I couldn't sleep anymore....I'm fine now. I promise."
The captain pads over and sits next to his cook. He stares out at the vast ocean in front of him. "You ready to apologize to Zoro today?"
Sanji nods.
"How...how badly did I hurt him?"
Luffy hums, "Pretty bad."
"I did kick him pretty hard—"
"You took out his earring and broke his nose. Chopper also told me that he's sick. That's why he didn't look so good yesterday," Luffy states bluntly, eyes never leaving the water but slightly moving down.
Sanji feels his heart dropping. He covers his mouth, and his mind takes him back to when they fought on deck. He remembers following Zoro out to the deck, fighting him, kicking him.... Did he really pull out his earrings? 'What does Luffy mean by that?' the cook thinks.
"What do you mean by 'pulled out his earring'?"
Luffy hums, "Chopper guesses that the fabric of your pant leg got caught on one of Zoro's earrings. You ripped it out with a chunk of his ear. Chopper was utterly horrified when Zoro found his way into the infirmary," Luffy refrains himself from yelling. He's getting mad, but he remembers to calm himself down; no one needs to yell in the morning.
"If you don't apologize, I don't think he'll forgive you. You've hurt him more than you'd think," the captain speaks a little softer but never loses his flare.
Sanji feels tears on his cheeks. Had he really hurt him so badly?
He turns back from looking at his captain to his shoes. He curls up into a ball and hugs himself tightly. Luffy gives the man a side glare. "Once you apologize to him, I need to have a talk with you." And with that, Luffy leaves with a pat on the man's right shoulder. The cook hears his captain's footsteps leaving.
"....I'm sorry, Zoro...."
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When everyone wakes up, Sanji makes them all their favourite meals as an extra apology for his outbursts the day prior. They, of course, accept the food cause they're hungry—no sign of Zoro, though, or Law.
"Chopper," Sanji bravely speaks up. The reindeer turns around with a tired face. "C—can I talk to Zoro?"
The reindeer shrugs and gets up. He leads the cook out of the galley, down the stairs, and into the ship, where they pad over to the infirmary. Chopper knocks on the door and then opens it. They see Law lifting his head from the bed and sitting up in a chair. The taller man yawns but covers his mouth.
"Tony-ya...." He stops and looks up at the cook. "Blackleg...." the tall man mutters. "Sanji wanted to talk with Zoro, so..." Chopper gestures with his hooves. Law nods and gets up from the chair to leave the room. "We'll be on the other side of the door," the reindeer explains. When the surgeon passes the blonde cook, a cold aura fills the space as he glares at the cook. Sanji feels a chill run down his spine.
He flinches slightly when the door closes. His heart is thumping against his rib cage; he's nervous and fidgeting like crazy.
The swordsman is already sitting up and staring down the blonde cook with an unreadable expression. Sanji puts his hands behind him so as not to fidget so much. He hangs his head low. "I'm sorry. I was tired and not thinking straight. I really should've taken out my frustration on you, and for that, I'm truly sorry..." he speaks as clearly as he can.
The swordsman doesn't say anything.
"Zoro—"
"You mean it?" he asks in a deep and tired voice.
This takes the cook by surprise. He lifts his head and nods, "Yes."
The swordsman closes his eye. "Alright."
'Alright, what? Marimo, you don't make sense...' Sanji thinks.
"I accept your apology, but I'm not going to forgive you just yet. We've been through a lot together, and this time....you took it too far. It's gonna take some time, but this will eventually be something to laugh at in the future," the green haired swordsman states with a slight smile. "Come on. I'm hungry."
Sanji smiles, and they all head up to the galley to eat breakfast.
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After breakfast, Zoro and Law are talking out by the ship's side. Sanji's heart thumps when he hears his captain enter the empty galley. 'It's time, I suppose...' he thinks, placing the last dish in the cupboard. He turns around with his hands back on the edge of the counter and watches as his captain wanders into the kitchen but leans against the other side's counter.
The sound of waves crashing down and faint voices can be heard through the wall.
"What did you wanna talk about?"
"...."
"Luffy?"
"What's been going on lately? You've been acting strange this past week."
Sanji hums, "I...I'm jealous."
"Of?"
"Zoro."
"Why?" Luffy tilts his head in confusion.
"He's happy and in love with Trafalgar."
It then hits Luffy. He thinks he gets it now.
"Do you wanna be in love?"
The sudden question seems to make the cook freeze for a second. He never expected Luffy to talk about love.
"Well, to be frank, yeah. I just....I know I'm being selfish. I'll stop—"
"No."
"No?" Sanji mimics with a head tilt.
"Don't stop."
"All my life, I've had a hard time losing people and trusting them not to hurt me with what you've created here. It's like we're a family here...." he trails off.
Luffy crosses his arms.
"I thought you liked Nami and Robin?"
Sanji shakes his head.
"Yeah, but not like that. They're wonderful women and all, but I can't date them..."
"Why not?"
"Another reason..."
"And what's that reason?" Luffy asks, completely and horribly confused.
The cook shakes his head.
"Nothing..." he mumbles.
"Sanji."
"I said, 'noth—'" Sanji is cut off by Luffy hugging him around the waist. Luffy hat falls back, but not off due to the string around his neck. The cook had his shoulders raised and his hands still on the edge of the counter. He doesn't know what to do.
A few seconds pass before he hugs his captain back. Through his shirt, he can feel his captain's smile. It tickles a little. He smiles and buries his face into the man's hair.
"What's this for?"
Luffy giggles.
"I thought it was obvious. You're smart, Sanji," Luffy hums and hugs tighter. He can hear the cook's heartbeat increasing as the hug continues. Lifting his head to meet the big, beautiful eyes above him, he leans in. To both of their surprise, the cook does, too. The kiss only lasts a few seconds before it quickly pulls apart via a noise from one of the doors.
"Should I have knocked first?" Zoro jokes with a smirk.
Sanji blushes and covers his mouth, turning away.
"Zoro!" Luffy happily shouts, walking over to him. Staring at his first mate with a serious look, he softly states, "Do you need something?" It sends shivers down Zoro's spine to see his captain this scary. "Well, I was wanting to talk with the cook, but if you two are busy. I can come back later," he offers. He wants to wink, but he only has one eye....
"Oh. Sure! You can talk to him!" Luffy suddenly changes his demeanor. The captain leaves, and Zoro pads are handed over to the cook.
"What do you want now?" the blonde growls.
Zoro smirks.
"Don't worry, you pretty little ass cook. I'm not gonna tell anyone about what I saw here."
"Then, why are you here?"
"I just wanted to let you know Nami wants to speak with you—" Zoro doesn't even get a chance to finish his sentence before the cook pushes his way past the green-haired swordsman and out the door. "Nami-swan!~" Zoro hears through the walls.
The swordsman sighs and leaves the kitchen.
"There you are," Usopp says with a smile. Chopper follows next to the sniper with a look of concern on his face. "Chopper got worried and wanted me to go check on you two," the sniper admits.
Zoro hums.
"It's not that I don't trust you two being alone together," the reindeer trails off. "I—well, it's just that I'm—"
"I get it, Chopper." Zoro bends down to meet the little doctor's gaze. "It's alright; thanks to you, I'm so much better. I can handle myself just fine," he reassures with a smile. Usopp feels his heart melting. Zoro's always been soft with Chopper, and most of the time, they don't see this side of Zoro because he's hiding it.
The little doctor dances around, blushing cutely. "Thanks, you dumb jerk."
Zoro lets out an amused puff of air and straightens back up. Meeting the sniper's gaze, he asks, "Do you know where we are?" Usopp stares in confusion. "On the sea, I mean," the green haired swordsman mumbles. The sniper nods. "Nami said that we were getting closer to the second to last island, but there's another island coming up in just a few hours now. We need to stop there for some supplies."
The green haired swordsman nods and pads with them to the main deck. Luffy jumps at both of them, forgetting that Zoro's injured. An odd sensation goes through Zoro's body when Luffy makes contact with his body. It's like a cold shiver mixed with a nauseous and overwhelming feeling. The captain apologizes quickly and shoots up for another hug; all the while, Law watches. "I gotta show you both something that I just caught! It's super cool!!" Luffy excitedly mentions.
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A couple of hours later, they finally reach the island that was mentioned by Nami.
Law contacts his crew again. They're on the island in front of them. They landed here about six hours ago. He sighs and pads over to the Straw Hat captain to inform him that he'll be going on with his crew for the rest of the time they're there for. "Awe~ Don't leave so soon, Tra-o!" Luffy whine while hugging the surgeon. Zoro watches with a smirk on his face; Law looks over and notices. The green-haired swordsman scrunches his nose for a second, then turns and pads over to the rope ladder leading down to the dock of the island.
The Straw Hat crew members leave their ship in the hands of Robin, Chopper, and Usopp.
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Law's wandering the streets of this town when he runs into Zoro, well...more like the green haired swordsman accidentally bumps into him. Wincing, Zoro holds his nose and looks up to apologize. "I'm sorrrrrr..... What're you doing here?"
The surgeon chuckles. "Just wondering. What about you?" he asks, looking down at the swordsman still holding his nose. '....Cute....' Law thinks. "Are you even listening to me?" Zoro interjects. Law nods, he's lying. "How about we wander together? I think I saw an interesting shop a little ways back."
Just as Zoro's about to answer, he gets the air taken away from him via a large gust of wind suddenly swooping in.
The green haired swordsman gasps and starts coughing. Law holds onto his shoulder until he stops, which, luckily, isn't too long. "You okay?" the surgeon asks. Zoro nods and blinks slowly. "Let's go to that shop you were talking about. If it's as interesting as you say, that is~" Zoro knows precisely what he's doing. He's messing with the surgeon. Law knows this, too...
Sigh
"You're going the wrong way," the surgeon jokes. Zoro stops with a sudden halt to turn around and blush. He crosses his arms and turns his face away. "Come on," Law eggs on. "Want me to hold your hand?~" he teases. Zoro takes him up on that offer, and they venture off into the crowd of people. Nami and Robin watch; they both gush at the sight. "Awe~ They're so cute together!" Nami coos whine, holding her face. Usopp gives her an odd look. "Agreed. Trafalgar is like a lost puppy following our swordsman."
"Zoro's the one who gets lost, though..." Usopp interjects.
"You don't get it," Nami says blankly.