"How close is the ending, well, nobody knows. The future's a mystery and anything goes. Love is confusing and life is hard. You fight to survive 'cause you made it this far. It's all too astounding to comprehend. It's just the beginning this isn't the end."
-"This Isn't the End" Owl City
XxxX
Sanji woke up from a very deep, dark sleep still feeling tired. He could tell it was still early but he wasn't getting back to sleep again any time soon. His eyes felt dry and painful and his throat felt tight. He did not want to move, he did not want to face the world today. The world was far too cruel. Instead he watched Zoro's chest rise and fall with his even breathing. The marimo was such a good person, when he wasn't being a bastard, too good for him. Anyone else wouldn't put up with all of his bullshit. Again he felt the pull of the dark ocean inside him but for now he chose only to lean in against the marimo and wait for morning to come.
That morning progressed slowly because even after Zoro did eventually wake up they stayed in as long as they could. Zoro's stomach was what made them leave. Sanji was quiet, slightly embarrassed at his previous actions but he was not as overly defensive as Zoro feared he would be. They did not do much that day, just laid around, Zoro enjoying the fact that Sanji was even alive, and Sanji seeking comfort away outside himself.
XxxX
They couldn't keep the incident a secret for long. Everyone wanted to know why Sanji had been in the hospital so long, there was panic over Sanji's well being.
Sanji hated to be at the center of this sort of attention and his face burnt in shame as he looked into the faces of his worried friends. He tried to assure them that he was getting through it but got the sense that no one really believed him. Even if he was being genuine. Talking with Zoro had helped a bit, it was like releasing a little bit of pressure from his full to bursting head. He just hoped no one would stick an ice pick into his eye to relieve this sort of pressure.
He really did try his hardest to get better but it was incredibly hard when the universe would not stop punching him in the face. About five months after his suicide attempt he was fired from his job. The person who had replaced him while he was away, a man named Fullbody, had obviously been pissed when Sanji came back to work and was inevitably promoted back to sous chef, so he did a bit of digging which lead him some interesting information, and this kicked up the metaphorical dust.
He was snooping through Sanji's files and noticed some pages missing, thus he had to find out why. To be fair it was not an unreasonable thing to do. He then found out the details of his condemnation to the mental hospital.
Now he had something to work with. He could just bring this up to the boss and let it be dealt with, or he could see if the sous chef was having any... illicit affairs and catch him in the act. This was the perfect opportunity for blackmail. Using a good quality camera that he borrowed from a friend Fullbody followed the blond around, learning his routines. The fact that he lived with another man was highly suspicious, he just needed one good shot. One might think this was a tiny bit obsessive but if he could pull it off it would be worth in it terms of blackmail money and a better job title.
About two weeks later he was about to give up on his efforts when he finally got that one perfect shot. He was camped out on a bench across the street from their building. It was late, no one was around aside from them. They walked on the pavement side by side, talking about something he could not hear. He thought they would just keep going but the one with green hair grabbed Sanji's arm and pulled him closer. The camera rose as its photographer's heart beat heavily, this was it. Their lips met and-
Click.
He had his picture.
XxxX
Sanji flipped through the letters he had in the mail. He had all the normal stuff, bills and such, but when he saw an unmarked letter he was suspicious. Upon opening it his suspicion turned to horror. There was a picture in that envelope, a picture of him kissing Zoro. It was not of great quality, fairly dark and slightly distant but one could tell what it was with ease.
He remembered the night the picture showed. He and Zoro were coming back from Usopp's house, both fairly drunk, and Zoro wouldn't wait until they were inside. They thought they would be fine, there was nobody around and it was pretty dark out so no big deal, right? Fuck.
Sanji set aside the photo and unfolded the note behind it.
"I have copies. If you don't want this getting out I suggest you pay the required amount. Three days from now you will go down to the nearest library and place the payment in the top third row of the S section."
The amount was a lot, not ridiculous but pretty close. Fuck whoever this was, Sanji was not going to pay them. He had heard stories about things like this happening. People blackmailing homosexuals because in order to go to the police they had to tell them why they were being blackmailed. Self incrimination.
Sanji kicked over a chair in his anger, waking Zoro from the nap he had been taking on the couch.
"Wah?" He said unintelligently.
Sanji scowled at him, "We're being blackmailed, marimo."
"Seriously?"
"Yeah," he handed over the picture and the note.
Zoro read the note, "Shit, we are not paying this asshole."
"Of course not. Now we have three days to figure out who the fuck this guy is so I suggest we group up with everyone else."
"Sure about that?"
Sanji nodded, "Let's fucking do this."
They assembled the crew together at Luffy's. Sanji sat at the head of the table looking very put out, "Okay, here's the deal," he said, "The Marimo and I are being blackmailed, so we have three days to figure out who's doing it."
"What are you being blackmailed with?" Usopp asked in shock.
Sanji waved his hand dismissively, "That is not important, what's important is that we get this bastard."
"Mr. Cook," Robin chimed in, "I think we would be better able to proceed if we know why exactly you were being held in such an unfortunate position. I'll make it simple; did they see something or do they have evidence?"
"It's a picture," Zoro stated bluntly. Sanji gave him a disapproving look but did not say anything.
"A picture of what?" Chopper asked innocently.
"Something compromising of course," Robin said knowingly, "Presumably whoever took the picture knew that I took something's from your official file."
"Can either of you think of anyone you've pissed off lately?" Nami asked, ignoring the previous statements.
"I kicked some mugger's ass the other day," Zoro said, "I could have said something to upset someone at work. I don't know, maybe it was just a random thing."
Sanji hummed, "I doubt I was random. Um, I was recently promoted back to my old job over this other guy, I had to get rough with some of my coworkers but that's really nothing unusual."
The orange haired woman rested her hand on her chin, "The guy you got promoted over. What was he like?"
"He's pretty awful, arrogant, hot headed, pain in the ass... I don't think it would be him though, he might have the personality but no way does he have the balls."
"You never know," said Robin, "I would say he is our prime suspect. Watch him at work tomorrow, see if anything is off. There is bound to be if he is involved and ballless as you say. "
That next day Sanji did just that, he subtly watched the guy out if the corner of his eye. He seemed the same as usual, maybe a little happy but within a normal range. By the end if the day Sanji was willing to say it defiantly wasn't him but then something odd happened. When he was walking out the guy smirked at him when he thought Sanji wasn't looking. That was when Sanji ran out after him. He grabbed the guy by the back of his shirt and spun him around,"This is your fault isn't it?!" He demanded.
The guy looked genuinely confused at first, a look that then became trained confusion, "I don't know what you're talking about."
"Yeah, bullshit, you know exactly what I'm talking about so I suggest you not play dumb about it or I'll have to do something violent. And that's not something you would want, right?"
The man steeled his face, "I would advise against that. I don't know what might happen if I we to be harmed but I imagine it would not be good for you."
Sanji narrowed his eyes, "If you give in now I can insure your safety," he was lying, he would totally kick this guy in the face anyway.
The man knocked away Sanji's grip on his arm, "You can't touch me right now, so I wouldn't be making threats like that. I think you should follow my instruction and you will be fine, but for now I say good day to you." and he broke away, hurriedly walking toward his destination, wherever that was.
Again the crew assembled after everyone was done with work.
"Any idea who it is now?" Asked Nami.
"It's that fucking guy whose job I took," Sanji said, "Its defiantly him, he threatened me while I was questioning him."
Usopp raised an eyebrow, "Were you questioning him or threatening to beat him up?" He was ignored.
"So we need someone to break into his house and steal the picture."
"Nami!" Luffy shouted, "Nami knows how to pick locks."
Nami nodded, "I can do that. Do you know where he lives?"
Sanji shook his head, "He lives in some posh building, I remember him bragging about it to someone but I don't know where it is."
"Hacienda Arms?" Nami guessed, she made trips there sometimes for... Totally not shady reasons.
"Yeah, that place."
"Okay, what's his name?"
"His name is Fullbody."
"And what is the picture I'm looking for?"
"You'll know it when you see it," Zoro spoke up.
"Alright the plan goes into effect tomorrow."
XxxX
Nami set off for the Hacienda Arms the next morning before she knew that Sanji and the other chefs would be working. She leaned against the side of thebuildings opposite the apartments, taking out a pair of opera glasses. It was less suspicious than using binoculars and she never really got to use her opera glasses.
Lucky for her Fullbody had an a place facing the road, so she could see in the window. She waited for him to leave for work. Then she got in by sneaking in behind one of the building inhabitance. When she reached the door to the place she knew had to be his she swiftly picked the lock before someone saw her.
Nami pulled on a pair of gloves and began going over every inch of the place, careful to put everything back into the exact same place. About an hour later she discovered their hiding place. They were in an envelope taped to the inside of the bottom of his bedside dresser. She was slightly startled when she saw their image. It appeared Sanji really gone away for nothing. She sighed and pocketed the photos. He searched for another hour and found the film the pictures had been taken with and another copy in the closet.
Mission accomplished.
XxxX
When Fullbody came home he was alarmed to find his photos gone. One of the blond's friends must have stolen then while he was out. He was furious but it didn't matter anyway. He had already sent a letter to their boss detailing the situation and the picture. He didn't want to send it directly to the police yet, he wanted the blond to be humiliated first, then he would nick the picture off his boss if the guy didn't send it in himself. It should arrive in the next few days. Long enough for them blond to feel like he had won.
XxxX
One week later Sanji's boss called him into his office. Sanji was then informed that the restaurant did not employ fags and was fired. It was everything he had hoped to avoid, his worst nightmare come true. On his way out Fullbody mocked a surprised face. Damn...
It was a mess. At first people started giving him off looks as he went by. He tried to ignore them best he could but each pair of eyes bored holes in his skin. One day he came home and found the message 'queers' painted on the apartment door. Once this became a matter of public attention the police got involved, someone probably sent the picture in.
One evening there was a knock at the door. When Sanji undid the lock the door was shoved open and a police badge was shoved in his face.
"Sanji Noir, you are under arrest," said the officer holding the badge, "Against that wall, hands behind your back," Another officer helped him out by shoved him into a wall and placed cuffs on his wrists.
This is when Zoro walked into view and the fist officer pulled a gun.
"Woah," said Zoro slightly sarcastically, "No need for that."
Zoro was also detained in a similar manner. As they were being shoved out the door the police started trashing their apartment. Looking for evidence Sanji supposed, of what he wasn't sure but they wouldn't find anything not that mattered anyway.
They spent the night in holding cells, different cells, obviously. They went though the legal business that came down to them both being charged with sodomy. Their trials were quick. They considered Zoro a first time offender but Sanji a second time for his time in Camarillo. Zoro was given one year of probation. Sanji was sentenced to two years in prison. They were given the option for a reduced sentence if they went through a chemical process to limit Lobito but the both refused and fair enough because neither of them would have wanted to deal with the effects of estrogen treatment. Sanji said no because he was sick of tests and Zoro because he didn't give a fuck what they thought he wasn't changing anything. They were not allowed to see each other before they were taken away.
XxxX
Sanji was sent off to prison on June 13, 1956. Prison was much like being back in the hospital to Sanji, only with even less freedom and more violence. The prison guards took a particular interest in him. Not a good kind of interest. Sanji could hold them off well enough but a lot of the time they cuffed him to the bars of his cell and beat the shit out of him. Not fun. Also the other prisoners very much enjoined mocking him.
XxxX
October 4, 1957
The Russians launched the first artificial satellite Sputnik. Kicking off the space race, because the capitalists could not deal with space communists.
XxxX
November 3, aboard the soviet vestal Sputnik 2 Laika, a three year old dog, became the first animal to orbit the earth although she died within hours due to overheating.
XxxX
January 28, 1958, the modern Lego brick model was introduced. This defiantly is a very important moment in history.
XxxX
July 29, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, or NASA, was founded. The United States couldn't let the soviets hog up all the space action.
XxxX
June 13, Sanji was released from prison. His stay had been horrible and traumatic but he did eventually get through it. When he got out he first went to Luffy's where Zoro happened to be staying. Theirreunion was just as sweet as those before it. While Sanji was away Zoro had a hell of a time finding a new job, no one wanted to take him. Now he worked on a construction site not far away. He got a lot of odd looks but no one wanted to mess with him so being an unfriendly bastard really did pay off.
Sanji stayed with Nami while he was looking for a new job. Nami felt like all of this was really her fault, if she hadn't said anything in the first place... But Sanji assured her that this was bound to have happened anyway and he was probably right. It would have been smarter to have met in secret, or to have married some woman and snuck off with Zoro from time to time, but he couldn't do that to someone. It was cruel to play with a person's feelings like that.
Sanji had a hell of a time trying to find a place to work. It didn't matter how good he was, no one wanted him. Eventually he had to swallow his pride and interview for a job at a gay bar. He was way over qualified for the job and his employer, a cross dresser named Bon Clay, was all too happy to have him there. The pay was alright, but he did not get to cook much so that kind of sucked, and he had to deal with an entire horde of homosexuals. Not ideal. Then there was the police harassment to worry about. They would wait outside or around the corner to make arrests or just to give them a beating, a few people even turned up dead.
Sanji found an apartment complex that would take him, and he moved in. This was not the best idea ever because he was going to live on his own and given his history... But he did not care very much. His active suicidal thoughts had mellowed into blatant disregard for his own life. That's way more healthy, right?
The marimo also found a place located in another area. Unfortunately, our main characters could no longer risk living together so they had to find other ways to meet up. Sometimes Zoro would show up in the bar making his hours more tolerable and sometimes they would go back to each others houses just for a little while. They did what they could, but it was very difficult. One could think it were rather romantic if it were not such a pain in the ass.
Despite the turn of events Sanji made his best efforts to keep his head above the water. He kept his eyes fixed on the horizon, not on the deep churning water around him. He actually did have something to look forward to. A restaurant down the road from the bar was teetering on the edge of going out of business. According to his calculations he might just be able to afford to buy the place and turn it into something special. Just maybe, if things fell in his favor. He did have a bit of money saved up, just in case and he was taking as many hours as he could working in the bar. He did not mention this doorway that was starting to materialize in front of him to anyone because he thought it might just disappear again.
That next spring the restaurant went up for sale and Sanji went to buy it. The owners were an older couple working with their fulling grown children to run the place, they were kind and though they knew what Sanji was they made no comment, only considered his bid. They told him that they would get back to him at a later date.
Two weeks later, after signing some papers and transferring some money Sanji was in the possession of his own restaurant.
On his way home from finishing off the deal Sanji was suddenly stuck by a wave of glee. Instead of running home, he ran to Zoro's place. He shoved the key into the lock and burst through the door.
The Japanese man looked up from his chair, slightly startled.
"Guess who just bought a restaurant!" Sanji exclaimed.
Zoro's eyes widened, "Seriously?"
Sanji nodded enthusiastically.
Zoro stood suddenly, knocking over his chair and strode across the room. He resisted the urge to pick him up and swing him around in a sort of cinematic cliché. Instead just sort of bear hugged him. "Where is it?"
"It's that little place down by the bar."
"Did they know who you were?"
Sanji nodded, "They didn't care, they took my money and gave me the place," he restrained any sort of embarrassing noises he wanted to make to express his happiness.
Zoro stepped back with a serene smile on his face, that made Sanji's face hurt from the strength of his smile. "We have to tell everyone," he said firmly. And they did, they threw a huge party in the building Sanji now owned.
Shortly after Sanji became very busy. He moved into the little home space above the restaurant, deciding on a menu, redecorating, hiring chefs and cooks who were willing to work for him, and doing everything else to insure the success of his dream.
When All Blue, as the restaurant was called, was opened on October 13, 1959 Sanji was extremely nervous. He was confident in his ability to run the place but he was anxious about how many people would show up, please let it be a lot. Luckily for him he had amazing friends who had spread the word of All Blue's opening and the place was packed.
Sanji was very, very happy. As was everyone else, maybe they did not have everything they wanted but during this time they were on a high.
XxxX
April 12, 1961, the soviets launched Vostok 1, making Yuri Gagarin the first person in space.
XxxX
April 17, the CIA tried to push Fidel Castro out of power by launching an invasion by means of American-trained Cubans. The bay of pigs invasion, was a failure. The invasion force surrendered within twenty-four hours.
XxxX
August 15, two days after sealing off East and West Berlin with barbwire the Berlin Wall began construction.
XxxX
August 17, 1962, two men from East Berlin were trying to escape to the safety of West Berlin. The first made it across but the second was shot down by east Berlin machine gun fire, making him the first person to be killed crossing the Berlin Wall, the first of nearly eighty.
XxxX
October 14, 1962, The Cuban Missile Crisis was a thirteen day standoff between the Americans and the soviets over the presence of secret soviet missiles in Cuba. Both nations had a finger on the metaphorical red button, prepared to destroy the world when they came to an agreement to remove the missiles if the United States promised not to invade Cuba and a secret agreement to withdraw US missiles from Turkey.
XxxX
June 11, 1963, Thích Quảng Đức, a Mahayana Buddhist monk, committed suicide as a form of protest agains the South Vietnamese government's persecution against Buddhists by setting himself on fire.
XxxX
August 28, Martin Luther King Jr. gave his famous "I Have a Dream" speech on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, during the March On Washington.
XxxX
November 22, 35th president of the United States John F. Kennedy was assassinated.
XxxX
November 23, the first episode of Doctor Who aired.
XxxX
July 2, 1964, the Civil Rights Act was enacted, banning discrimination based on sex, race, color, religion, or nationality. It did not solve every problem instantly but it was a good step forward.
XxxX
February 9, 1965, the first United States combat units were sent to Vietnam.
XxxX
August 11, Marquette Frye, and African-American, was pulled over for reckless driving. After failing a field sobriety test he was placed under arrest. While he was being arrested a crowd began to gather and watched what appeared to them another instance of racially motivated arrest by the police force. This is the event that prompted a six day riot in south central Los Angeles.
It really was a mess, people running around in the streets, burning buildings, violence, that sort of thing.
On the thirteenth Sanji and Zoro were walking to Sanji's place, having just escorted Nami to Luffy's. They could have stayed but this was the perfect opportunity for them to spend some time together.
As they walked closer to the restaurant they noticed the black billowing smoke rising from Sanji's street. The blond felt a sinking feeling of dread. It's probably another place, he told himself, it doesn't have to be mine.
But it did, and as All Blue came into view they saw that it was in fact on fire. Flames licked up the sides of the building like sharp little tongues, leaving scorched brick behind. There was a fire brigade, trying to put out the fire but the building next to it was also on fire and they had arrived too late to stop the flames in their infancy.
Sanji was frozen in place, each crackle of burning objects led to a tighter clench on his heart. Zoro watched him silently, not sure quite what to do, Sanji had not really reacted yet. He was just staring at it blankly. When he did eventually get around to reacting it was done in a very violent way. He charged toward the burning building, but not before Zoro had a hold on the back of his shirt. The Japanese man yanked him back and restrained him to the best of his ability. It was not an easy job to do and he was left with a number of pains and bruises but he managed to keep Sanji from running to his burning home.
When he was done struggling Sanji slumped against Zoro and stared ahead in a catatonic manner.
"Oi, cook, you okay? Sanji?" Zoro asked in concern, turning his chin so that they were face to face. There was no response, the sad blue eyes never left the bright flames, "Come on, blondie, you're freaking me out here." his alarm was steadily growing.
After a bit of prompting Sanji finally spoke."It's not fair," he mumbled unsteadily as his eyes finally moved to Zoro's.
"It's not," the marimo agreed, solemnly.
Sanji gave a short humorless laugh and put his hands to his eyes as they started to brim with tears, "Fuck... Fucking... Shit.." He said very eloquently, he always did have a way with words.
"How bad?" The swordsman asked, referring to how badly he was feeling. It was something they had to consider at depressingly consistent rate. Sanji had been far more stable after the opening of All Blue, but he still had his ups and downs. Emotional scars a nd the like.
"I've never felt this shitty in my entire life," Sanji said miserably, with a shuddering sigh.
That can't be good, was Zoro's first thought. It was actually really, really terrible to be honest and alarmingly true.
After a few minutes of consolation and trying to get it together, Sanji finally managed to rip himself away form the scene before him. Together he and Zoro walked back to the marimo's place.
For the next five days Sanji hardly moved from bed. He got up when his friends came to see him, to make sure he was okay, but aside from that he made no move to do anything. Zoro forsake work during those days to watch the chef and to make sure he didn't to anything stupid. He was sad to say that it was not the first time he had to do something like this.
The national guard restored order on August 16, leaving people 34 dead, people 1,032 injured, nearly people 4,000 arrested. Over 200 buildings were burned or otherwise destroyed.
After things had settled down again Sanji got the insurance money, which he used to rebuild All Blue. He had to go through all the tedious steps in hiring people to do construction, and get evening set up. In the mean time he managed to get a job working in another restaurant, he was glad not to go back and work for Bon Clay.
Everything was nearly back to how it should be by the next February. Physically that is, the events pervious had done a lot of damage to Sanji's frayed mind set, causing him a good deal of grief.
But this is where our story ends. Endings leave an empty feeling behind, they're always so unsatisfying. Though it is nice when a story end happily. Unfortunately, this is only a small portion of these characters' lives, who knows what will really ending up happening. And this narrator will not tell you either. What happens is up to you to decide.
What I will tell you is that Sanji and Zoro continued to live through a time that was not suited for them, they did not lead easy lives. Sanji suffered from his time in Camarillo and had to hospitalized a few times in the future years after a few mental break downs. Zoro continued to stick with the cook, even when Sanji didn't want him to stick around. It would have been easier if he had fallen in love with someone else. Someone who wasn't so fucking loyal, that way they could just ditch his sorry ass for someone better. But not Zoro, never Zoro, and that was something Sanji both hated and loved him for.
So with this undecided future in mind just remember that in the end Sanji would probably die of lung cancer, or some other shitty disease like emphysema because he's a chain smoking dumbass and Zoro would probably die of liver failure or something because he's such a fucking alcoholic. But you don't want to think about that, right? So be happy you finished this story with a relatively happy ending, or at least not a sad ending, or maybe it's not really an ending at all. It's just the closing of a portal through which part of a story has played out before you.
Even after that portal closes people fight over things that don't matter, time keeps ticking, the earth keeps spinning, orbiting around the sun, which is orbiting around the center of the Milky Way, which is one of many galaxies surrounded by a black void. And no one notices that this story has ended because it doesn't matter to anyone anyway.
The end.
XxxX
Historical notes and stuff:
Ah, blackmail is fun. In the movie Victim (1961) some gay lawyer dude gets blackmailed over a picture sort of like this. It's really quite sad.
The Hacienda Arms was actually a famous brothel that was declining in fame but it's the only apartment name I could find.
Miranda laws weren't established until 1966 so no reading people their rights.
I've spelled restaurant about a million times now and I misspell it every single time.
Yeah, so this is what I did over the summer, and then redid after that when half of the finalized version was deleted. My goal was 40,000 words and I met that goal so I guess I'm happy. If I were a good writer I probably could have expanded on it better; gone into more detail, it's still too brief in description. Maybe I'll fix it later. I really hope I didn't glorify anything too much, I really tried not to.
If you have any other time periods you suggest I write about feel free to share, I promise that I won't bite.
I hope you enjoyed this. Thank you if you favorited, alerted, or reviewed this story. You make me very happy : )
Until next time,
Thanks.