Title: Whatever Happened
Author: kikokus (AoiTsukikage)
Rating: NC-17 overall
Characters/Pairing: Law/Zoro/Sanji, in all combinations
Chapter: 6/?
Word Count: 4645
Summary: Sequel to "So Good So Far" and "Almost Easy." Sanji had always known it would be foolish to hope, and after five years, he was certain both he and Zoro had given up on ever seeing Law again. But then again, it wasn't like Law had ever made things easy…
Spoilers: For recent chapters

Chapter Six

His opinion on them having a lot of time to work on things changed rather rapidly once Law actually began to speak, and by the time he was finished Sanji could see why he'd been concerned about it.

Of course, he'd also been right about it not affecting how Sanji felt, but it was just one more thing that added stock to Law's assurance that something would always get in the way of him being happy, and that was kind of depressing.

"So," Sanji was sitting cross-legged facing him, lips pursed. "You're saying that even though your ability depends on your own stamina, there are ways to use your power even if you're completely exhausted, and that's by drawing from your own life force?" he asked slowly, getting a one-shouldered shrug and a half-nod in return. "And, after you lost your arm, that's what you did back on Dressrosa."

"Yes," Law nodded. "Obviously my body was far too damaged to have any energy stores remaining, but giving up at that point was tantamount to death. The only way I could ensure I had a chance, even a small one, was to create a Room that would, even at full energy, deplete my stamina rather rapidly, and I had to hold it for…" he sighed, closing his eyes. "A long time, I'll say that much."

"So the entire time, you were draining your life?" Sanji tried to keep the anxiety out of his voice, even though it was hard. He could only imagine what the other man had gone through, how much pain he had to have been in from getting shot and having his arm literally cut off and then having to draw from his very life force on top of that…

His fingers twitched with the urge to reach out, but he could tell from Law's body language that he wouldn't be especially receptive to any physical affection at the moment so he restrained himself, folding his hands in his lap.

"I had no other choice," Law smiled grimly. "It was either take a chance with shortening my lifespan or die right then and there, in which case my lifespan would be rather shortened regardless."

Sanji couldn't really argue that, so he just nodded. "But you don't know…I mean…"

"No, I have no idea how much I took off," Law shook his head. "It might only be minutes, but it could be significantly more. I hadn't thought to mention it before since after Dressrosa I was far more concerned with finding a working substitute for my arm, but in the last five years with using my ability so much…" he sighed. "Maybe it's taken more out of me than I first realized."

"Fuck," Sanji echoed the other man's sigh, leaning forward and rubbing his temples. "Well, I guess there's no way to tell until it happens, huh?"

"Mm, so if I suddenly drop dead, you'll know why."

"Don't fucking joke about that," Sanji growled, and one look up showed him that Law was already regretting making light of it. "You were right, though. When you said it didn't matter," he swallowed, his mouth feeling suddenly dry.

Because it didn't matter…and yet, at the same time, it did.

"I don't care how long you've got left, it doesn't fucking matter to me," he said, meeting Law's eyes. "Whether it's a day, or a year, or fifty years…" he stopped, because he was going to say something ridiculously sappy and Law probably wouldn't want to hear that at all.

"I know," Law smiled warmly and Sanji breathed a sigh of relief that he didn't have to say anything else. Part of him was thankful that Law had finally seemed to realize that Sanji would rather spend time with him than not, but the blond had to admit that it certainly wasn't the best news he could have been told.

And knowing they'd wasted five years already didn't help, either.

"As I said, the time it shaved off of my life may be negligible, but I thought it only fair to warn you," his tone indicated that for him the conversation was over, and Sanji knew he wouldn't be getting anything else out of Law as far as personal secrets were concerned…at least, not anytime soon.

"Right. Well," Sanji felt his fingers twitching with the need for a cigarette and sighed in resignation as he stood up to grab them, lighting up and inhaling gratefully. More than anything it was just a way to avoid talking for a bit, and it at least gave him something to do with his hands.

He knew they should probably eat soon (and at least that was one thing they didn't have to worry about…Franky had built him a cooler that could keep food cold for days so packing only dried foods that traveled well wasn't really a concern and he was grateful for it since Law was kind of picky when it came to food anyway), but he wasn't feeling very hungry at the moment.

Maybe he'd go for a walk. Or another swim. He was pretty sure there was a cave behind the waterfall and that would be a safe place to hide out for a couple of days, so he should go check that out…

"I was going to pretend."

"Huh?" he turned around, a little surprised that Law apparently still hadn't finished baring his soul for the day. "About what?"

"I'd half-convinced myself that, in the event I ever saw you again, I'd pretend that I no longer felt the same. I thought I'd be able to shut you out entirely," he had this sad little half-smile playing about his lips, and Sanji felt his feet moving him toward the other man even though he didn't mean to.

"Yeah? What happened?" Sanji nudged Law's knee with his foot, pursing his lips around the still-smoking cigarette and staring down at him.

"What do you think?" Law glanced up at him. "Your first reaction was to jump on me, after all, and that was about all it took for me to realize my feelings truly hadn't changed and it would only hurt us both to pretend they had."

"Well, to tell you the truth, I wasn't sure you wouldn't drop me on my ass for doing that, but I'm glad you didn't," Sanji chuckled, blowing out some smoke rings. Law fell silent after that and Sanji figured that now the conversation was over. He dropped the cigarette butt on the ground and crushed it with his heel, clearing his throat. "Hey, are you hungry? I could…"

He yelped when Law grabbed his wrist and yanked him down into his lap, kissing him almost desperately. Sanji wrapped his arms around Law's shoulders and kissed back, knowing that despite Law's seemingly assured comments about Sanji not caring about his confession, he'd been worried.

"Look," Sanji pulled back enough so they could stare at each other, and there was still a tightness to Law's eyes and around his mouth that showed he wasn't completely certain that things wouldn't change. "I don't want to ask you for any promises because I know that's a lost cause, but…I want you around. That's it," he shrugged, knowing that even though part of him was fucking terrified about just how short Law's life could become if he kept overusing his ability, a much bigger part of him had learned over the last five years that any time spent together wouldn't be something he'd regret.

Giving up on Law just because his future was uncertain, however, and always being left to wonder what could have been…yeah, that would haunt him forever.

"I don't plan on going anywhere anytime soon, you know," Law leaned toward him, mumbling the words mostly into his shirt. Sanji tangled his fingers in Law's hair and curled his body forward, chin resting on top of Law's head.

"Yeah. Neither do I," Sanji knew that making even that sort of promise was dangerous considering their profession (and the fact that they might be walking into a literal deathtrap in just a couple of days), but something compelled him to do it anyway.

One thing was certain, he'd try his damn hardest to stick around as long as he could.

"You said something about food?" Law asked, face still mashed against Sanji's shirt, and the blond rolled his eyes and pulled back.

"You know, for as much as you seemingly hate being compared to Luffy, sometimes you really remind me of him," he anticipated the look of horror on Law's face at those words and wasn't disappointed, and by the time he'd gotten to his bag and taken out their dinner his heart felt at least a little lighter.

They were both survivors, after all.

It would take a lot to bring them down.

000

As it turned out, there was, in fact, a cave behind the waterfall, and while Law had complained profusely about being stuck somewhere he couldn't escape from (at least, until Sanji had pointed out that there were tons of rocks and debris on the shore he could just warp with if he needed to), eventually he'd conceded.

They spent most of the night and the next day resting and preparing themselves for what was to come, because no matter how confident Sanji might have felt with Law along, both of them were seriously out of practice when it came to actually fighting. Sanji hadn't felt much from Zoro since that first night, but he was still sure he'd be able to tell if the other man was dead, so that was some small comfort.

He hoped he'd be able to sense him stronger the closer they got to the stronghold, since them getting in and out quickly depended on him being able to tell where Zoro was and avoid anybody else (he and Law had both decided that, for now, getting Zoro out safely was more important than exacting revenge on any of the men that had captured him. There was plenty of time for that later, once Zoro's life wasn't in danger anymore).

He'd assumed he wouldn't get much sleep the night before, that he'd be too anxious, but something about the steady, soothing sound of the falling water and Law's warmth wrapped tightly around him had caused him to drop off rather quickly, and he was grateful for that.

And so, a night's trek across the scrubland left them within sight of the rather imposing fortress, as well-rested as they could be while they waited for dawn to break.

Sanji reached out with his Haki, scanning the fortress and noting that there seemed to be a good number of people in the same location…probably sleeping quarters, he guessed, considering the hour. He was a little more hesitant to search for Zoro directly, unsure of what he'd find, but the other man's aura was unmistakeable and he let out a heavy sigh as he let the familiarity wash over him.

It was weaker than normal, but hardly anywhere near what Sanji would consider dangerous, and he tried to pinpoint exactly where it was coming from, though if he had to guess he'd assume the dungeons were further down the cliff, maybe even embedded in the rock-face to prevent easy escape.

Their best bet would be entering through an empty room on the main floor and working their way down, relying on Sanji's Haki to tell if anybody was coming to intercept them.

"This friend of yours that's coming to aid our escape…you trust him?" Law asked after Sanji had told him what he'd been thinking, and the blond glanced sideways at him.

"Yeah. Don't worry, he'll be there," he said, because that was the one thing in this mess he was completely sure of.

"Good," Law nodded. "Well, best not to delay this any longer. Are you prepared?"

"As much as I can be," Sanji swallowed, feeling Law's hand come to rest in the small of his back and taking strength from it. "Let's do this."

000

Getting in was the easy part.

The land-facing part of the fortress was completely unguarded and it had been easy for Sanji to Sky Walk up to the closest set of windows, catching the edge of one and peering in to see some sort of office.

It was unoccupied, thankfully, and Law only needed to swap himself with a pencil on the desk to get both of them inside without triggering any sort of alarm.

Sanji kept his Haki as focused as he could, knowing he wouldn't be able to keep it up for long without it exhausting him, but he'd take a little fatigue over them going in completely blind.

Luckily, Sanji thought as they headed toward the place where he could sense Zoro was, they were dealing with bounty hunters and not Marines. Marines would have had sentries on duty, and while there were plenty of alcoves and rooms to duck into if they needed to, it was much easier to move quickly when it became apparent there weren't any guards they needed to avoid.

In fact, the only person they encountered at all was at the door leading to the dungeons, but he didn't even have a chance to call for backup before a roundhouse kick from Sanji laid him unconscious.

He felt his heart beating faster as they raced through the dark corridors of the dungeons, though from what he could see the cells were all empty. Zoro's aura was damn near stifling now, and Sanji skidded to a half in front of the very last cell in the dungeon, nestled deep within the rock of the cliff itself.

"Stand back," Law's voice was tight as he called up a room and sliced through the bars of the cell as easily as if they were butter, letting the pieces clatter to the ground. He slid through, Sanji following with feet that suddenly felt like lead, and the blond tried to keep his composure as he took in Zoro's appearance.

The other man was unconscious, breathing shallow and rapid, propped up against the wall with his wrists chained above his head to keep him upright and his ankles shackled to the floor. He was limp in his bonds, his clothing in tatters and every inch of visible skin streaked with blood and dirt.

"Fuck," Sanji whispered, feeling tears prick his eyes. He'd prepared himself for anything, and that Zoro was still alive and in one piece was better than a lot of the alternatives his mind had concocted over the past week.

Law brushed past him, going into full doctor mode immediately. He cut the shackles open, leaning to brace Zoro with his body when the swordsman slumped forward, and let his real hand rest against Zoro's forehead.

"He's definitely been poisoned," Law replied, his voice impassive, though his expression told Sanji he wasn't nearly as unaffected as he was pretending to be. "I can't tell if it's Manchineel or not, but it's the most likely answer," he sighed, shifting Zoro so that he was sitting more comfortably against Law's shoulder. "We need to get out of here so I can examine him more closely."

"Right," Sanji nodded, trying to force himself to not worry about Zoro until they were in a place it was safe for him to do so.

"His swords…did he have them when he was captured?" Law asked, and Sanji nearly smacked himself in the forehead because he couldn't believe he'd forgotten about that.

Zoro would kill him if he let that white sword fall into the wrong hands, after all.

"Here," Law passed over his nodachi and Sanji took it cautiously, feeling the vibrations from beneath the saya. "I'm not sure if you can read the…aura of his swords, but if not, Kikoku should react to the presence of another cursed sword. I'll meet you at the dungeon entrance and then we can look for a way out," his tone was gentle but firm, and Sanji appreciated that Law was giving him something to do to take his mind off of Zoro for a few minutes. "Be careful."

"You, too," he reached to run his fingers through Zoro's hair, sighing when Law caught his wrist and pressed a kiss to his knuckles. "I'll be quick."

He shifted Law's sword, realizing that carrying it would be awkward since it was taller than he was, but he noticed as he headed back toward the entrance to the dungeons that the vibrations from inside kept growing stronger.

"Okay, which way?" he ran out into the corridor, past the still-unconscious guard, and it might have been his imagination but thought he could feel the sword pulling him a certain direction, so he followed along and was relieved when the shaking got even more severe. "Yeah, yeah, I'm going, I'm going," he muttered, wondering if it was normal to be talking to a cursed sword like it was some kind of excited dog.

There was a demon inside of it, he reminded himself, even though so far it hadn't posed any threat to him.

Kikoku damn near jumped out of his hand as he passed by what looked like a weapons storage room, and he ran inside to find Zoro's swords and haramaki laid out on a rickety wooden table.

"Thank fuck," he gasped, sliding the waistband on and attaching the swords (he'd seen Zoro do it enough times that he hardly had to think about it). The weight threw him off-balance a little, but he found his footing quickly and damn near flew back down the hallway to where Law was.

"That was quick," Law had Zoro draped over his back and he straightened up when Sanji skidded to a halt in front of him, holding out Kikoku. Law took it back and hefted it over his shoulder, eyes darting up and down the corridor. "Did you see any windows?"

"No," Sanji shook his head, feeling rather out of breath (and damn, was he really that out of shape). "It's gotta be that way, though," he pointed toward the wall they were facing, leading away from the dungeons, and Law nodded.

"Right. Let's keep going and hope we get to a window…or at least something where I can see the outside," he turned the opposite way that Sanji had come from, and Sanji thought it might have been his imagination but he could have sworn he heard footsteps from farther down the corridor as they set off.

Daylight pouring in through another door, a closed one this time, stopped them both short. Sanji didn't even hesitate before kicking it in. He was glad to see that the window was large enough that they could just climb out instead of needing to warp, but since it led onto a narrow ledge on the cliff with a sharp drop to the sea below, Sanji reasoned that most people wouldn't see it a viable escape route.

He looked around the room, unable to stop the horrified gasp that came out once he realized where they were. It was…he shuddered…a storage room for torture implements, and some of the things he saw hanging on the walls had bile rising in his throat because the thought of those men using them on Zoro…

Law, however, seemed hardly affected and in fact was already rummaging through shelves and throwing things into his bag. Sanji was about to ask why when the other man's eyes widened and he stalked across the room, not even bothering to use his power as he slammed Kikoku's hilt through the glass-fronted window of a cabinet.

Sanji could see a number of vials inside, along with a few bags of powder, and Law swept them all into his bag just as an alarm started sounding.

"Shit," Sanji hissed, unsure if it was Law breaking the glass or somebody finding the unconscious guard that had triggered it, but either way they had to move and Law scooped up his bag, adjusting Zoro on his back before both of them jumped through the window.

The ledge outside was even narrower than Sanji had first thought and he had to flail his arms to keep his balance. It was windy out in plain view of the ocean, but there was a ship sticking close to the rock edge and Sanji could see enough of its Jolly Roger to know it was the one they needed.

"Law! Can you get us down there?" he yelled above the wind, reaching to grab Law's arm and holding him as steady as he could.

"They're going to lose a cannon since it's the biggest thing I can clearly see," Law replied, and Sanji decided he'd get them a new cannon if they were that upset about it.

"Whatever, just…" Sanji felt something slice through his hair and a stinging pain bloomed along his cheekbone.

Shit. If the bounty hunters were close enough to shoot at them, they really needed to get out of there.

"Right," Law yanked him in with his free arm, pulling up a Room large enough to reach to the pirate ship, and after a quick jolt Sanji found himself standing on the deck of the ship…with a number of guns and swords pointed at them.

…right. Sanji hadn't exactly gotten to warn them that this was how he planned on dropping in.

Law was on the defensive immediately, a Room starting to materialize from his hand, and Sanji grabbed his elbow and shook his head.

"Sanji? Damn it, you idiots, you know it's him! Put your weapons down!"

Sanji breathed a sigh of relief and slumped to the deck, feeling like he wanted to laugh hysterically and cry at the same time because it was over, and he opened his mouth to speak when a panicked voice interrupted him.

"Captain, they're shooting at us!"

"Room," Law had it up before the man had even finished speaking, flicking his fingers and sending the cannonball back in the direction of the fortress to slam directly into the very cannon it had come out of. "Go. I'll take care of any other things they're foolish enough to try."

Sanji heard the captain hollering orders, and the ship's sail caught the wind a moment later, speeding them quickly away from the fortress and, soon enough, out of cannon range.

Law let the room drop, setting Zoro gently down on the deck and dropping his bag. Sanji noted that he still looked on-edge, probably from being on what was, to him, an enemy ship, and he was about to tell Law it was okay when he was nearly barrelled over by somebody and hugged back instinctively.

"Fuck, you had me worried, man!"

"I'm fine," Sanji promised, feeling fine tremors starting to spread through his body from the adrenaline wearing off. Yeah, he'd definitely over-used his Haki, but it had been worth it. "Sorry we showed up out of nowhere," he added, laughing nervously, and the man holding him drew back and shook his head. He looked even more ill than usual, and Sanji felt guilty for making him worry, although Sanji had learned that apparently he just always looked like death warmed over even when he wasn't starving or dealing with the after-effects of being poisoned.

"I don't care how you did it, I'm just glad you're out of there safe," he said, his hand never leaving Sanji's shoulder, and Sanji clapped his own on top of it, thanking whatever fate had seen fit to make their paths cross again after so many years.

Thinking back, it probably wasn't too unbelievable that Gin had showed up at the Baratie one day. Sanji had been overjoyed to see him, because he'd always wondered if the other man had finally made his way to the Grand Line, or if in fact he'd ever recovered fully from Krieg's poisoning.

They'd ended up talking for hours, Sanji learning that Gin had cut ties with Krieg and formed his own crew, and he'd been keeping tabs on Sanji as much as he could so when he'd heard about the restaurant he'd wanted to come immediately.

Since then, he'd been a fairly regular customer (he always insisted on paying even though Sanji had threatened to kick him if he didn't accept the food for free), and when Sanji had asked him to be his ride after Zoro was captured he'd agreed without a second thought.

"Is he…" Gin looked at Zoro, and Sanji nodded. "Good," he did look relieved, and while Zoro and Gin hadn't really had that much contact way back in the East Blue, Sanji really hadn't been able to hide the nature of his relationship with the swordsman from the other man. Gin didn't judge him for it, of course, but he did know how much this had meant to Sanji because of it.

"Speaking of, do you have a medical bay or even a bedroom I could use? I'd like to take a closer look at him," Law was all-business, holding out his hand as Gin gaped at him.

"You're…you…"

"Trafalgar Law, yes," Law sighed, as if he was weary of hearing his own name. "And you are?"

"Oh. Um. My name's Gin," he said, looking almost afraid as he shook Law's hand.

"Well then, Mr. Gin, I have to thank you for aiding in our escape," Law smiled rather warmly and Gin visibly relaxed. "And since you're a friend of Sanji's, I feel safe in telling you that all of the awful rumors you've heard about me are completely unfounded."

"That's a relief," Gin gave him a sickly smile but quickly shook his head. "Right! Bedroom's through that door, and let me know if you need anything else."

"Thank you," Law picked up Zoro again, glaring at Sanji when he made to follow. "No. The last thing I need is you hovering nervously and distracting me. You know he's in the best possible hands," his voice softened at that.

Sanji nodded, because of course he trusted Law completely, but he still hated the thought of being separated from Zoro any longer than he already had been.

"I'll take care of him," Law's eyes flicked to Gin before he seemingly dismissed him and leaned to kiss Sanji, lingering long enough that Sanji could sense that he was feeling the exact same relief with an undercurrent of concern for Zoro that Sanji himself was. "Don't worry."

Sanji leaned to kiss Zoro's forehead, stroking his fingers down the man's cheek before he stepped away and let Law carry him into the bedroom, shutting the door behind them.

Gin was blinking at him when he turned back to the captain, his eyes narrowed suspiciously. "I'm guessing there's quite the story behind this?" he asked, and Sanji nodded, taking a step forward before his legs buckled and Gin had to catch him.

"Thanks," Sanji let out a shuddery breath. "How about I make coffee and we can talk?"

"You look like you need sleep more than conversation," Gin pointed out, helping him toward the galley.

"I won't be able to sleep until I know…" he looked back toward the cabin, and Gin murmured something sympathetic into his ear. "But talking will keep my mind off of it, at least. And I'm sure you have questions."

"Since you just fucking made out with an ex-Warlord who's also one of the most notorious pirates in the world, I'd say I do," Gin was teasing and Sanji appreciated it, and he nodded.

"Right. Let's go," Sanji let himself lean on his friend to get him to the galley, and hoped that by the time he'd finished his tale Law would have at least some news on Zoro's condition.

And then, maybe, he could finally get some sleep.

Notes:

1. Law did mention that maintaining the room after he'd lost his arm was drawing from his life force, and while it might not impact the canon story much, it was a way to add more angst to this one so of course I wanted to mention it…and, when I had originally started this fic, I had toyed with the idea of Law initially rejecting Sanji and being really cold to him but I just couldn't do that to them after everything else!

2. I don't have much else to say here, other than that I do love Gin and his relationship with Sanji and I really hope he shows up again in the manga, so that's why I wanted to include him in this fic! Also, for anybody missing Zoro, hopefully this chapter makes you at least a little happier about that! Thanks as always for all the reviews and comments, you're all wonderful :)