An Angel's Words of Advice
A/N: So…I know, I know, I'm procrastinating on my other stories but this darn plot bunny was driving me crazy bouncing around in my head all day! I just HAD to get it out of my head! So here you are, my first one shot. Enjoy!
Disclaimer: Nope, don't own One Piece. I only own Angel :)
Warnings: None. Only Zoro/Sanji fluff xD
xxxxxx
It was the middle of the night, around 1:00 A.M. in the morning. The Straw-hat crew crowded in the Thousand Sunny's Infirmary; though this infirmary was larger in size than the one on the Merry Go, it was still too small to fit the large crew of nine. But…it might soon be only eight…
Everyone furrowed their brows in worry. Sanji had several bullet holes in his chest and no matter how much Chopper rushed around trying to fix Sanji as quick as possible, the whole crew could clearly see Sanji's breathing becoming increasingly labored.
"J-just give me a little more time. Okay Sanji? Then I will have you fixed up!" panted Chopper, who tried to sound encouraging but was failing badly. Though it was a mystery if Sanji could even hear him anymore through all the pain…
Zoro leaned on the wall near the bed and watched Chopper rush around, trying to heal Sanji as best as he could. Although Zoro put on a mask of indifference, he was actually very worried for the cook. They had been in a battle with the marines and after the battle was finished, Sanji let his guard down, only to be shot several times by a marine. They had missed one marine who was still quite conscious, or at least conscious enough to put several holes in Sanji.
He'll be alright, he always pulls through. He'll be okay. Zoro tried his best to reassure himself and felt a little bit better.
Chopper finished wrapping the bandages on Sanji and sat down on one of the chairs in a huff. "Th-that should do it." panted Chopper as he rested a bit after all that strenuous work. "We will have to have shifts and someone must constantly watch over Sanji." Chopper let this sink in to the rest of the crew as the beeping of the monitor hooked on Sanji beeped at a steady pace.
"Though his heart rate is more normal now, he is still not out of the dangerous period." continued Chopper. "He might die."
At this news everyone in the room seemed taken aback and became more resigned; Sanji had always been one of the 'monster trio' so him dying wasn't really something the rest of the crew could really comprehend.
Sanji might die? Thought Zoro nervously. T-that's not possible…is it?
Luffy, who by now was very serious, spoke to Chopper. "Chopper, how long is it going to take until Sanji will wake up?"
Chopper seemed to contemplate this for a moment and silently calculated it in his head. "He should be okay at the break of dawn in the morning."
The crew cheered up at this news, knowing that the cook would soon be okay soothed everyone's spirits.
"But," continued Chopper, and the crew focused their attention on Chopper to see what he had to say. "We must watch over him very carefully. If anything happens, and I mean ANYTHING at all, Sanji really will die."
They sobered up and a glint of determination went through everyone's eyes as they steeled themselves with the new mission of keeping Sanji alive.
Zoro suddenly spoke up and said "I'll take the first shift."
"Are you sure, Swordsman-san?" asked Robin in worry. "You just had the night-shift (meaning to watch over the ship) yesterday. You need to sleep."
"I'm fine." grunted Zoro. "I'm not sleepy anyways, you guys can go and sleep, I'll take care of Sanji." Zoro's features softened and whatever arguments that the crew had, died. They knew just how worried Zoro was and decided to leave him be.
"Good night." said Zoro, as everyone filed out of the room they murmured 'good night' back.
Chopper, the last person to go out, yawned and turned to Zoro with weary eyes. "Remember to wake me up if even the slightest problem happens."
Zoro nodded and pulled a chair next to Sanji's bed to sit on. He stared at Sanji as he crossed his arms and sat there, waiting for dawn to come.
Sanji was sweating profusely and his breathing was quite labored much to Zoro's dismay. Zoro got up and walked over to the nightstand on the other side of the bed which had a bowl, towel, and water in it. He took the towel to dip it in the water and then wrung it out. Zoro wiped all the sweat from Sanji's face and then put the towel on his forehead. He went back to his seat and sat there again as he looked at Sanji, noting that he seemed much calmer now and his breathing was steadier.
Satisfied, Zoro proceeded to ready himself for the several hours wait till dawn.
beep beep beep beep…
Zoro felt himself nodding off to the steady beeps of Sanji's heartbeats and try as he might, he couldn't stay awake. Huh, never realized just how soothing Sanji's heartbeat really is… It's so nice…I wish it can stay like that forever…
Zoro fell asleep, smiling at the sound of Sanji's heartbeats.
beep beep beep be-beep be…beep b-bee-p be-
What th-? Zoro startled himself awake and noticed that there was a pink light coming out of the open door. It's dawn… That means Sanji's safe. Zoro smiled and relief filled his heart when he realized that his mission to protect Sanji was done. He got up to go tell the others that Sanji was okay now when he felt that something was wrong…something was very off…
Zoro tried to listen to Sanji's heartbeat and heard…nothing. Not even the sound of breathing. He panicked and ran to the boys' bedroom calling "CHOPPER! CHOPPER! COME QUICK! SANJI! HE-!"
At his call, Chopper rushed to the infirmary and started running around grabbing various equipments. The rest of the crew slowly woke up to see what was wrong and crowded around the door and not in the room so as to give Chopper more space. The only one in the room was Zoro who Chopper was questioning harshly. Zoro stood next to the bed as Chopper checked Sanji's pulse and shone some light in Sanji's eyes.
"When did you feel that something was wrong about Sanji?" questioned Chopper as he got out his stethoscope and checked Sanji's heartbeat.
"I-I'm not sure. Isn't Sanji supposed to be okay by dawn? What happened?" Zoro fidgeted with his fingers worriedly and chastised himself for falling asleep.
"WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU'RE NOT SURE? What happened was that YOU didn't watch over him!" Chopper raged at Zoro and he cowered a bit at the anger the doctor emitted.
"I'm sorry. I fell asleep." Zoro grimaced as he admitted to his wrong, knowing that he had a hand in Sanji's current condition didn't really help either.
Suddenly, Chopper just stopped all movement and flopped down on the chair that Zoro had sat in, next to the bed. Chopper put one hoof to his forehead as he sobbed silently. The rest of the crew just looked at each other in confusion and then glanced back at Chopper who seemed more agitated by the second.
"W-What's wrong?" asked Nami worriedly as she started biting on her lower lip in nervousness as the tension in the room went higher still.
"T-there's no point anymore. Sanji, Sanji doesn't have a heartbeat!" sobbed Chopper as he cried even harder when he admitted it to himself.
Luffy blinked as if he couldn't comprehend what Chopper had just said. "Meaning?" asked Luffy, voice wavering a little, though he already knew the answer, Luffy wanted it confirmed.
"Sanji's dead!" wailed Chopper while the rest of the crew seemed frozen in shock.
"N-no, that can't be. He's part of the monster trio. Even me, the great Captain Usopp is no match for him. How…can he die…?" Usopp trailed off when the truth of the situation hit him and he also started sobbing in grief.
When Usopp broke down, it was as if something in the crew cracked and everyone started crying and sobbing. Except for Zoro. He was still in the same position and haven't moved at all the whole time the crew had this exchange. He seemed as if he was made of stone and did not cry nor did he move as the rest of the crew grieved. The only thing going through his mind was This must be a joke. Yes, that's it. A great big joke to trick me…right? Sanji can't be dead. He's always been there, always fought with me, always helped me when I most needed it, always had my back…so…he can't be dead… Sanji can't be dead. But… Sanji's… dead. I…no this can't be true…this is a nightmare, yeah, this is all a horrible nightmare. Even though Zoro knew this wasn't true, he refused to see the truth for what it was and stormed out of the infirmary, heading for the training room.
Zoro put down his swords gently on the floor and started training. Anything to get his mind off of the grief he felt bubbling beneath the surface. He lifted his weights silently for a few moments and then abruptly dropped them; his face was covered in shadow as he flopped down crossed legged on the floor next to his sword. Then…he cried.
He let all of the grief flow out of him in sobs that racked his whole body and cried. There was only one time that he had cried this hard, and it was when Kuina died. This…grief, pain, hurt, was too much to describe and it overloaded all of Zoro's senses.
No more of his wonderful cooking, the fights, his…beauty… Zoro paused in his grieving and blinked a few times. Wait…beauty? I-I love him. The realization caused Zoro to widen his eyes in surprise. Well, too late for that. Thought Zoro bitterly as he felt more tears coming. He's dead. I can't even confess to him anymore…
Zoro cried and grieved until he fell asleep from all the turmoil in his heart and mind.
xxxxxx
W-where am I? Sanji blinked as he sat up and looked around. All he saw was a giant gate about 30 feet in front of him and an endless expanse of fluffy stuff as far as the eye can see. Why the hell am I lying down? And are those…clouds…? What th-
His train of thought was cut off when he suddenly saw a silhouette appear through the gates. The figure seemed to have a vague shape of wings on his or her back.
…All I remember is getting shot… Sanji looked at his own chest only to find it completely unharmed; even his suit was in good shape. Okay…? That's weird… WAIT. Sanji widened his eyes as he thought of something not so pleasant. What if I died? Oh shit. That explains it all! Then that means… He looked at the silhouette again and found that the person seemed to be walking towards him since the person was noticeably closer.
That means… thought Sanji as he stood up, lit a cigarette (That magically was in his pockets), and turned to the person with hearts in his eyes. That means it must be an angel! A beautiful, hot… Sanji lost his train of thought when he had a nosebleed from the image of said 'angel' in his mind. When Sanji recovered, he spread both his arms out wide and ran the last few feet to the person. "I'm coming my mellorine~!" screamed Sanji as he wrapped his arms around of…a rather bony old man.
"EEEK!" Sanji screamed again, but this time for a different reason than before. He jumped away from the old man who seemed a bit dazed at being treated like a huggable toy. The old man was dressed simply in only a white robe going from one shoulder to his waist, showing a part of his chest; he was wearing white sandals and also had white wings on his back.
"Erm…" said Sanji, not really knowing what to say. "I'm sorry!" In the end, Sanji decided that was the best way to go and did a perfect ninety-degree bow.
The old man, who was by now recovered, chuckled and said "No, no I'm alright. I am quite used to it by now."
Used to it…? thought Sanji as he sweat-dropped at the notion. "May I ask where I am? Also, who in the world are you?"
"You are on the entrance to heaven and you may call me Angel. Also, it's not who in the world because technically we are not in the world right now." said the old man, matter-a-factly.
"Oh, I'm on the- Wait, what? Does that mean I'm dead?" Sanji was taken aback at this news. He couldn't be dead yet! He still had to find the All Blue!
"Well, technically yes you're dead. I'm sorry for your loss." replied Angel, who didn't look like he was sorry at all.
"I-I can't be dead. I still need to do a lot of stuff. I have a lot of things I didn't do yet!" yelled Sanji as he grew increasingly frustrated that he was dead. How would the crew react to this?
"Everyone says that when they reach here but they usually choose to stay afterwards." Angel smugly said.
"What do you mean?" questioned Sanji, confused as to why anyone would want to stay dead.
"Why, don't you know? This is heaven! It has all the things every individual wants."
"So, what do you guys have up here?" asked Sanji as his curiosity grew.
Angel took out a little pocket book out of his robes and flipped to a page in it, he scanned it and then put it back.
"Well, from your file information, you seem to like only a few things. So to start with, we have everything from cooking to Zoro." said Angel as he gauged Sanji's reaction carefully. He couldn't be too careful. There have been people who had flipped when they heard what he said because they refused to acknowledge what they liked, or in some cases, who they liked.
Much to Angel's chagrin, he was dead on and snickered silently as Sanji turned a brilliant shade of red.
"W-why is Zoro in the list of things I like?" asked Sanji as he stuttered, embarrassed.
"Oh! You're right. Why is Zoro in the list of things you like?" Angel took out the pad again and flipped it to another page, on this page he wrote something down which he did with a pencil he produced out of nowhere.
"There." huffed Angel as he put the pad back in his robe. He turned to Sanji, smiled, and said "I took him out of the list of things you like to the list of things you love."
If Sanji could turn a deeper shade of red, he would. But as it was now, he couldn't manage it without exploding from embarrassment. "THAT'S NOT THE PROBLEM HERE!" screeched Sanji.
Angel seemed perplexed as to why Sanji was still angry and asked him "Then what is the problem?"
Sanji sighed. He took out his cigarette that by now was already burnt to the tip and lit another. "Why is he even in my 'likes' list? I don't like that idiot."
"Yes you do." replied Angel as he grew increasingly annoyed at the stupid humans who never seemed to want to admit their darn feelings.
"Nope, I hate him."
"You like him."
"No I don't."
"Yeah you do."
"Nope, nuh uh, never gonna happen."
"Yes you DO like him!" screamed Angel as he reached the limit of his patience. "You know what? Fine. Let's see if you can handle THIS." Angel produced a remote looking thing out of his robe and pressed a button.
The ground rumbled as a large 60 inch flat screen T.V. and couch appeared up from the cloud floor.
Angel shoved Sanji into the couch and pressed another button. The T.V. bleeped to life and some options came up on it.
It read:
a) All Blue
b) The Ladies
c) Fantasies of Zoro
d) Rare cooking ingredients
Angel produced a roll of toilet paper and threw it at Sanji. "You might need that." Angel said as he pushed several more buttons on the remote and chose option c.
"Wait, what are you do…" Sanji trailed off as he stared at the T.V.
"%^&%*%*&$%$^% OH MY GOD%&*?*& Did Zoro just lick…(&*%&$ OH GOD. I just pushed my… **&^% Is that a whip?&$^$#...!"
The rest of the scene has been censored due to the fact that the explicit images are not compatible with the rating of this story. Thank you for your cooperation.
xxxxxx
One very messy nosebleed later…
The defeated and exhausted Sanji lay on the couch as he panted and pushed several more pieces of tissue up his nose to stop the nosebleed.
"Oh my. It seemed I needed much more toilet paper than I thought." said Angel as he sat on the couch next to Sanji's feet.
"What the hell was that? Why did you show me that you dirty old man!" panted Sanji, as he blushed. Though you couldn't see it because all of his blood had either already bled out or it had flown straight south.
"What do you mean dirty?" asked Angel who seemed offended. "For your information, those were all of YOUR fantasies, not mine. Why, I should be complaining for being subjected to such explicit images."
"Oh really?" said Sanji sarcastically. "Then care to explain the bucket of popcorn you brought and ate during the 'show'?" He pointed to the popcorn on Angel's lap accusingly.
"Well, you know, heaven is kind of boring for us workers whose only job is to tend to you humans." Angel said this meekly in retaliation.
Sanji briefly forgot about his argument and facing Angel, replied "Wait, but aren't you an angel?"
"Yes, I am. But you humans all view us as almighty and stuff but in heaven, the humans are superior and we serve you." Angel said this sadly.
"Oh…I see." said Sanji awkwardly, not really knowing what to say.
"Enough of that." said Angel as he cheered up. "So, what do you think? In heaven you can actually DO all those things instead of pining for him uselessly."
Without hesitation Sanji replied "I want to go back."
Angel seemed taken aback by this and questioned Sanji "But why? You're the first person to actually reject this offer."
Sanji simply smiled and said "What's the fun in trying to win the heart of someone who you know will love you? Besides, this is not the real Zoro and I want the real one. Though I know he will never love me back…so I might as well give up."
Angel nodded in understanding and said "You should confess to him when you go back. Take my advice; it is always wise to heed the advice of an Angel." Angel then reached into his robes for another item and took out a small box with one button on the top. He pressed it and a section of the floor about 10 feet away from where Sanji was opened up.
Sanji got up and started walking toward it when Angel's words stopped him. "In this lifetime you will only get one chance where you can go to heaven and back. This is your one and only chance. Once you do this, the next time you die; you will be stuck here whether you like it or not. This basically means that you can only die and be revived once. Life is very short so heed my advice." Angel smiled kindly at Sanji and gestured him to stop walking.
"I can't believe you're giving up heaven for him." continued Angel as he walked over to Sanji's side and together they continued walking until they came to a stop at the side of the hole.
"Good bye, Angel. Thank you for everything." Sanji smiled gratefully at him and jumped into the hole. As he fell into the darkness he heard Angel say "He better appreciate what you did for him… Why if I was a few years younger I would…" Angel's voice was cut off as Sanji felt and heard a sudden rush of wind around him.
"No way I would be with you." chuckled Sanji. "I would rather go to hell." Because Zoro is my only love. Thought Sanji, and with this, a white light enveloped him and he blacked out.
xxxxxx
Zoro was startled out of his sleep by the thumping of sandals as someone entered the training room rather noisily. He looked up, ready to cut the person to pieces and saw Luffy who seemed out of breath and who was also grinning like a madman. "Luffy? What ha-"
Luffy cut off what Zoro had to say next as he grabbed both of his shoulders and threw him out the window. Luckily Zoro landed on both feet and glared daggers at Luffy. "What the hell Luffy? What was that for?"
Luffy jumped down next to Zoro and briefly said "Infirmary. NOW." And then ran into the infirmary leaving a rather confused Zoro standing there.
Zoro grumbled and walked to the infirmary rather slowly. He didn't think he could handle seeing the cook right now. Or rather, his dead body. thought Zoro bitterly.
Zoro stepped into the infirmary and the first thing he laid his eyes on was a…living and pretty healthy looking, Sanji.
Stunned, Zoro stood at the door as the rest of the crew surrounded Sanji hugging him and talking to him excitably.
Zoro dragged Chopper out of the crowd of people, pointed to Sanji and then pointed to Chopper. Indicating for him to explain what the hell was going on since Zoro seemed to have lost his ability to speak coherently.
Chopper was crying, but they were tears of happiness. He blubbered "I-I don't know what happened. But one minute I was taking Sanji's bandages off to prepare him for the funeral and the next he sat up alive! His bullet wounds even disappeared!"
Zoro allowed Chopper to drag him into the crowd and he walked (Or rather shoved) his way to Sanji. When he and Sanji locked eyes, it seemed as if the whole room only had the two of them in it. They stared at each other in silence until Sanji broke the gaze first to talk to Nami and Zoro was dropped back to reality.
Zoro sighed, smiled, and turned to go. It felt as if a huge weight was lifted of his chest. Sanji was alive. It didn't matter how. As long as he was alive then Zoro didn't care about the details.
Sanji talked to Nami but most of his concentration was on Zoro as he turned to leave. He had planned to confess to Zoro as soon as he came back but he didn't know if Zoro liked him. His hesitation only brought him farther from Zoro and he felt sad knowing their relationship would still be the same. Then, suddenly, he remembered Angel's words.
You should confess to him when you go back. Life is very short so heed my advice.
Oh my god. Screw this. Sanji strengthened his resolve and before he could hesitate again, he brought his hand up, pulled Zoro onto his lap, and smashed his lips against his.
The whole room silenced in shock. Zoro stiffened up and this caused Sanji to mentally panic that Zoro was going to reject him but he instantly calmed down when Zoro opened his mouth for Sanji.
Hm. Thought Sanji as he was slightly distracted by the feel of Zoro's tongue in his mouth. Seems it was a good idea to heed an angel's words of advice…
A/N: So? How was it? Please tell me your opinions! They mean a lot to me! Thank you!
Edit: I just wanted to thank lovableHellion for his/her review! I'm flattered that you want another chapter but I'm very sorry since I meant for this to be a one shot, so there won't be a chapter 2. And don't worry, you don't sound creepy xD I've been creepier. I would also like to thank summergrey (I'm sorry I couldn't put your full name because the document manager thing won't let me put the X's)for his/her review! I'm glad you thought that it was funny because that was kind of the point xD I also need to thank Pocky Ichigo for his/her review! You're awesome! I totally love you :)