AN: Btw, for those asking me, this story is available in Archive of Our Own under KhristinaMargarrette. It's the same title as well. I wonder if I should be changing my name handle here as well so it matches? Anyway, here's the chapter 22!
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Sab was walking in the hallway when she heard a couple of nurses whispering to each other. This is normal and it's not like Sab is a strict kind of boss. As long as her employees are doing what is required of them, she doesn't mind seeing them being relaxed and bond once in a while. She would have walked past the nurse station when she heard her name being mentioned.
"Did you know, I saw a red-haired guy walked out of the Director's personal medical room. Let me tell you, he is so freaking hot. I didn't think the Director will bring someone personally in there. Well, I can't blame her. I would have done the same thing!" One female nurse squealed in delight as if the reimagining the images in her head. No doubt, her eyes are shining brightly upon remembering the hot guy she saw.
This made Sab raised an eyebrow. Making her presence known should have been her next action, but she decided to stand where she is, near the wall where the nurses can't see her.
"Are you sure about that?"
"I am sure! The nurses in the top floor saw it as well!" The female nurse sounds sure and certain. She must have been on duty when Sab brought Kidd directly to the hospital.
"Why would the Director bring a guy over here?" One of the other nurses asked, curious about what the other was talking about.
"For all we know, they could be dating." Sab almost choked on her saliva upon hearing this. She can't believe it. One time - just once, she brought a guy personally in her medical room, and they are concluding that they are dating. Unbelievable.
"Hmm? What was that about Sab bringing a guy over?" From where she's standing, Sab heard Koala asks the nurse. She almost forgot that her best friend is supposed to be stopping by in the hospital. "Tell me, is it a tall, well-toned, and a handsome red-haired guy?" Sab almost facepalmed at the description.
"Yes, him! Do you know him, Miss Koala?" One nurse is too eager to get some juicy details.
"Yes. His name is Kidd Eustass - "
"Kidd Eustass?! As in Kidd freaking Eustass?!" A male nurse shouted in shock surprising the women who were gossiping.
"Do you know him?"
"Of course I know him! He's one of the best Motorbike racers in history! I can't believe he's the Director's boyfriend. Wow, do you think I can ask the Director to get me his autograph?"
"Ahem!" Sab coughed while walking to where the gossipers are. The nurses paled upon seeing their boss raising an eyebrow at them. All of them greeted her before going back to whatever they were doing as if their earlier conversation never happened.
Sab then looked at Koala who is smiling sheepishly at her. She knows that smile. It's a smile of someone smug as if she gained an upper hand or have gained something to tease Sab about.
"I heard you brought Kidd here." Koala said, still smiling as wide as she could making Sab irritated.
"Ah! Director! It may be shameless of me to do this, but could you ask your boyfriend to give me his autograph?" The male nurse bowed at Sab, pleading.
"He. Is. Not. My. Boyfriend."
The male nurse was taken aback by Sab's tone which he finds scary. He stepped back bowing as an apology.
Sighing, Sab told them to get back to work before dragging Koala with her into her office. While walking, she can hear Koala humming happily.
"The word boyfriend has a nice ring to it." Koala said as soon as the door was shut down. Sab can only glare at her best friend.
"Please, stop."
"Why not? Everyone is not blind, he's a good catch. By the way, I did a quick research about him, apparently, he's a famous guy in Motorbike racing events."
"Just no, okay? Just no. Also, I'm not interested in whatever you found out about him. Keep the details all to yourself, thank you very much."
"Wow, someone is snappy today. Would it hurt you to just listen to me?"
"Listen to you ranting about stuff I don't want to know? Nope! Not happening!" Sab smiled sarcastically making Koala exasperated.
"You're so stubborn. Why do you hate him so much? You know what they say, the more you hate, the more you love."
"Koala, I could list down a lot of things I hate about that guy. He's annoying, arrogant, and barbaric."
"Let me remind you that you personally brought and treated the annoying, arrogant, and barbaric guy you are talking about."
This made Sab speechless for a bit.
"He's hurt and I was at the scene."
"What scene?" Koala's reporter's instincts are kicking in. This is why Sab doesn't want to mention that scene. It will just make Koala tease her more.
"Nothing."
"Come on, Sab. What scene are we talking about here?"
Ring... Ring... Sab had never felt thankful for the interruption of the telephone ringing. Thank goodness, she avoided being questioned by Koala.
"Hello. Sab speaking."
"Sab-girl! How are you?"
"Iva! How's it going?" Sab reminded herself to treat Iva one of these days for being a blessing.
"It's been a long time since you stopped by in our shop. What's going on with you three? This hurts my feelings." Just hearing her tone, Sab knows that Iva is pouting.
Iva's a family friend of theirs, one of the few people who know the sisters' identities. She works with Monkey D. Dragon - the estranged son of their grandfather. Technically, Dragon is their uncle, but he is rarely present in family gatherings. Besides, he's a very mysterious person.
Even if their gramps won't tell them about it, the sisters know that Dragon is someone who works underground - meaning, he's a vigilante, and oddly enough, she and Koala are somewhat part of his group. They're not dealing with something illegal here - okay, maybe they are. But, what they're doing is getting rid of the illegal activities that the mafia groups are conducting around Grandline.
Sab is not a highly active member of the group, but she helps whenever she can.
"Which shop are we talking about?" Iva owns a lot of shops. There's a Karate Dojo, a tea house, a strip club, and the infamous gay bar.
"Any of my shops! Hmph! This is why Luffia-girl is my favorite. She never forgets this beautiful me."
"First, Luffia is everyone's favorite." Sab is not saying this with a bitter tone, but rather it is as if she's stating a fact, which she is. "Second, I'll drop by one of these days. I'll bring Koala with me."
"I'll hold you to that promise, you hear me?!"
"Yes, yes." After agreeing on Iva, Sab dropped the call.
"Please don't tell me she is asking you to be a waitress in their club." As soon as the call ended, Koala commented.
Iva often asks Sab to be a stand-in waitress whenever she can. When she was in college, she sometimes does part-time jobs in one of her shops to earn a little bit of money. Even Ann and Luffia have done the same thing. Contrary to anyone's beliefs, they don't always ask their parents for money.
True, they gave the three of them allowances, but outside of what they're providing, the sisters never asked for more. Besides, the twins availed scholarships, so that means the money that is supposed to be for their tuition fees were never spent.
That did not stop them from doing part-times when they can. Good to experience different kinds of jobs when they can.
"No, she did not. She just asked when will I have time to visit her, that's all."
"Alright. Since that's settled, why don't we go back to our original topic."
Sab figured Koala won't let her go until she spills the tea.
"You know what, I think I need a coffee before my meeting. So, why don't we cancel our lunch date today?" Sab said while getting her wallet and cell phone and started walking fast towards the door.
"Ah!" A surprised shout came from Koala's mouth when she saw Sab escaping. Before she could react, Sab slammed the door shut and bolted out of her office. "Sab!" Koala ran after her but as soon as she was out of Sab's office, the doctor is nowhere to be found. "Damn it! I'll get her for this!" She muttered to herself before deciding to leave while promising that she will hunt Sab's ass.
Sab was hiding in her medical room, sitting there while praying that Koala is gone. After 15 minutes, she deemed it safe enough to get out.
Since she has her wallet and phone, she might as well get coffee. Before walking towards the elevator, she remembered that day she met the barbarian. What she was carrying at that time was the same thing she does right now and no pockets.
Carrying coffee while struggling to hold her wallet and phone is not a good idea, so she decided to get her pouch instead. If there's anything good she learned from him is that it's always good to carry a small bag or pouch where you can stuff your cellphone and wallet while carrying coffee. What she's hoping for now is not to see him again.
As the ambiance of the coffee shop is good for Sab's stressed mind, she decided to stay in the shop to enjoy her coffee. Regret instantly overtook that decision as soon as she saw the man she was praying not to see. The conversation she overheard earlier is still fresh in her mind, making her fume for some reason she can't even understand.
"Ah~ If it isn't my favorite Doctor. What's up?" She can see how he emphasized the word 'favorite' while smirking smugly as if the word itself is more of a way to annoy her than to praise her.
"The ceiling." She answered.
"The what?"
"You asked what's up, right? What was it above you? Isn't it the ceiling?" She smiled sweetly at him, very satisfied with the results of her answer. Judging from the annoyed look on his face, she scored a good one this time.
"Sassy witch as always, huh."
"Anyone would be especially seeing your ugly mug."
"That's the first time someone called me ugly. I looked in front of the mirror, I don't look ugly at all." He flexed her with a seductive smile making Sab's heart went a little bit crazy. Just a little bit and only for a few seconds! Nothing more!
"Try having your eyes checked. I am pretty sure there's something wrong with it. While you're at it, have your brains checked too. Maybe what they'll find is a brain full of arrogance."
"The doctor I've consulted would beg to differ. She agreed with me. Too much actually." And he smirked meaningfully again making Sab's face distort in the image of him hooking up with his Doctor.
"Hahaha! You should've seen your face. You just thought I hooked up with my Doctor, didn't you?"
Sab glared at him. He's so annoying.
"Why don't you go and get your coffee so you can get out of here."
"Nah. Too much trouble. I'll just have this." Without asking for her permission, he took her coffee cup, sat in front of Sab while sipping on the coffee she bought.
She remained sitting there, gaping in shock while looking at the man who had the audacity to steal her coffee right in front of her!
"Free coffee tastes good. Hmm..." He moaned while sipping on her coffee making her irritated. Without restraint, she kicked his leg under the table, making him splutter while drinking coffee.
"Why you - "
"Serves you right! Give it back here!" She took back her coffee and drank as soon as she had it while glaring at Kidd - as if to tell him that the coffee is hers. Kidd just shrugged. "Why are you here anyway?"
"To buy coffee, what else? What do you think will I buy here? Washing machine?"
It feels like his word game is improving because he almost copied Sab's way of answering.
"Then go get yours!" Sab placed her coffee cup on the table, almost slamming it.
"Nah. This one is better." Kidd took the coffee again and sipped on it. Sab can only sigh, tired of arguing with this man.
"I hate you."
"Don't worry, the feeling's the same." He said before calling the waitress who was so eager to pay attention to Kidd.
Sab is not blind. The moment he stepped inside, the waitresses' eyes were all over him. She can mentally visualize their lustful eyes, making her exasperated. And for some reason, they are glaring at Sab.
"Two grilled chicken panini." He said before turning his attention to Sab who is not busy with fiddling on her phone. "How's the old man and his grandchild?" Kidd's tone changed a little bit as if its time to have a decent conversation without the two of them trying to annoy each other.
"The child is doing well and will be discharged soon. Same with his grandfather."
There was a heavy silence following that last sentence as if they are lost on what to talk about. It's just that it's natural for them to continuously argue about a lot of things but can't talk about simple serious and decent topics.
Kidd remained sitting there, still sipping on Sab's coffee as if it was his.
"You're really enjoying my coffee, aren't you?"
"Hmm. Tastes good." He smirks. At this time, it is pointless for Sab to argue. She doesn't have enough energy to argue with him. "Hey, I need your autograph."
"Hoh~~ Someone's admiring me." The big smile on his face is annoying.
"Not for me, idiot!" She hissed. "There's a male nurse who is a fan of yours and wanted your autograph. I am just getting it for him."
Hearing her words, Kidd can't help but frown. For her to go through asking him for a male nurse doesn't sit right in Kidd's books. He frowns at her.
"Special, isn't he? For the hospital director to do his bidding." There's a little bit of sarcasm in his voice that Sab failed to detect.
"He was bowing because he's a fan of yours." She answered before taking out a pen and paper. "Here. Sign it."
"That's not how you are asking someone for a favor." Kidd said.
"Whatever. Just sign it."
"Are you sure it's not for yourself?"
Sab glared again then demanded. "Sign the damn thing now."
Kidd only smirked before signing the paper and giving it back to her.
"I can sign another paper for you if you'd like. The offer still stands." Said Kidd while smirking boastfully at her.
Sab can't take it any more of his arrogance so she threw the pen at him which he skillfully caught then laughed.
Around this time, Kidd's orders arrived. Sab is surprised that the other sandwich was placed in front of her. She raised an eyebrow at Kidd who did not pay attention to her and was busy eating. He did not say anything at all. Shrugging, she decided to eat the sandwich in silence. Free food is free food. She will not decline it even if the man who bought it for her is this annoying red-haired adonis.
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It's been almost two weeks since the breakup. Zoro still feels a little bit guilty whenever he thinks about it, but it's not as worse as the first few days.
He and Tashigi are still communicating via text messages, albeit it is rare these days. These days, Zoro is trying to catch up with the pending work he missed. Nami's been on their asses all day long, making sure that he and Luffia won't go off somewhere again, which they still do, given a chance.
"Zoro! Zoro! We're going to have a meeting at Whitebeard's!" Luffia slammed the door open while shouting.
"Why are you shouting? I am not deaf."
"But we can meet Marco!"
"That doesn't mean you have to shout. When is the meeting?" Zoro asks.
"Tomorrow. It's about the sponsorship for the Motorsports event, so the committee will also be there."
Zoro nodded. Just as he was about to reply, he noticed that Luffia's carrying red flowers.
"Why do you have flowers?" He asks.
"Oh, this! The security guard said someone asked them to give it to me. I don't know who, though." She shrugged while looking at the flowers.
This made Zoro frown. This is not the first time that Luffia received gifts from admirers. Even before, Zoro knows that it bothers him, he just never paid attention to the discomfort he felt when seeing Luffia receiving gifts from admirers. But right now, he knows why that is so.
It's jealousy. It's a foreign feeling for Zoro as he is never an overly jealous type of person. Remembering his relationship with Tashigi before, it made him realize that he had never been jealous. That kind of sucks to realize, but it is true. He was never jealous of how she spends more time with work rather than with him and neither did he felt jealous of her co-workers.
Funny how things change. With just a simple flower that Luffia's holding, he can feel the discomfort deep in him just by looking at the poor object. If glared can kill, the roses would have been long torn to pieces with how Zoro is glaring at it as if it's the most hideous thing on Earth.
"You should stop receiving gifts from anonymous people. Get rid of that." Luffia's a little surprised hearing Zoro's tone. It was an annoyed tone - a tone that doesn't take no for an answer.
Even Zoro is surprised by how his tone changed.
"But Zoro! It looks nice!"
"If you want flowers, I'll buy you a lot. Just get rid of that."
"Okay~" Luffia shrugged. It's not like she can eat these flowers anyway. Although throwing them away will be a waste. "I'll just give them to Nami." She said before bolting out of the office room to go where Nami's office is.
As soon as Luffia arrived in Nami's office, she finds her working on her laptop, typing something. When she saw who stepped inside without knocking, Nami's not surprised to see Luffia. She's the only one who doesn't ever knock on the door.
"What are you doing here?" Nami asks.
"Here!" Luffia offered the flowers to Nami who was raising an eyebrow at her.
"Why are you giving me flowers?" Nami asks while getting the said flowers to place it in the vase.
"Zoro doesn't like it."
This made Nami curious. Zoro may not be fond of flowers - being a macho guy and whatnot - but this still doesn't explain why he doesn't like it as what Luffia said.
"Did you buy this for him?" This is not impossible given how Luffia's eccentric and spontaneous. Nami guesses that Luffia bought it for Zoro, but if she bought it for him, why did he reject it? As far as Nami knows Zoro, he never refuses Luffia's gifts, especially things like this, unless she wants to buy him a crocodile.
"I didn't buy that for him. Some random guy asks the security guard to give it to me, but Zoro said that I shouldn't be accepting gifts from strangers. So, here. Wouldn't it be a waste to just throw it away? Might as well give it to you." Luffia explained to Nami, thinking that Zoro's just concerned about her.
Hearing her explanation, Nami smirks a little.
"Really? That's surprising."
"What's surprising?" Luffia tilted her head to the side while looking at Nami putting the flowers in a vase. She can't think of anything surprising.
"How did he tell you that he doesn't like it?" Nami asks, ignoring Luffia's curious question.
"He said to get rid of the flowers and he'll just buy me a lot." She answered while smiling widely. Just thinking of receiving flowers from Zoro makes her happy.
"Oh." Nami was stumped upon hearing what Luffia said and remained silent until Luffia decided to leave to bother Franky and Usopp.
As soon as she's gone, Nami walked out of her office to confront a certain green-haired man. Thankfully, he wasn't dragged by Luffia to follow her around. He's being responsible once and for all.
"What?" Zoro raises an eyebrow at Nami who looks a little serious.
"I know you just want to get rid of the flowers, but offering to buy Luffia flowers is not something you should be doing. It's not right. Think of how it will look to others and what it meant." Nami's not blind. She knows that Luffia has certain feelings for Zoro despite her trying to hide it. The Straw Hats knows that she's in love with Zoro. Only Zoro doesn't notice it.
"I know what giving her flowers meant. I am not stupid Nami." He answered.
"If you know what it meant, then why do it? I don't want to remind you, but you are committed to Tashigi. She's your - "
"We broke up."
"She's - uh what?" Nami is not sure if she is hearing it right.
"We broke up. Almost two weeks ago when I took a leave from work."
Zoro did not mention it to anyone else, not even to Luffia. The only one who knows is his adoptive brother. It's not in his nature to publicly announced something that is happening in his personal life unless someone asks him about it or if the situation calls for it.
"Huh..." Nami muttered, trying to process the news. "Luffia's not a rebound to you, is she?" Her question is a bit too intrusive but she must ask this vital question. Luffia's like a little sister to her - no matter how annoying she is and no matter how many times Nami wants to killer her, she still values Luffia.
"She is never a rebound and never will be."
"Does she knows about the breakup?"
"No. I haven't told her about it."
"Why not?" Nami presses. "You're not trying to be vague about this, are you?"
"I am not. I just - " Zoro pauses for a second.
"You're just what?"
"I don't know how to tell Luffia that Tashigi and I broke up because I am in love with her! I just don't know how to tell her without her being guilty."
There was a heavy silence in the room. Nami is just standing there, not moving at all.
"Took you long enough to realize you're in love with Luffia." Nami can't help but smile. She is a bit sorry for finding out that Zoro and Tashigi broke up. This may be her being biased, but she's happy that Zoro finally realized his feelings for Luffia. The unrequited love she had for years will finally be returned. Zoro has a lot of catching up to do and making it up to her.
"We broke up in good terms, as good as a breakup can be. But Tashigi knows."
"I'm sorry." Nami said.
"She knows it is for the best. We can't stay in a relationship half-heartedly." Remembering that night, it made Zoro sad again.
"You are not doing this half-heartedly with Luffia, right? You know we will never forgive you if you hurt her in any way!"
"As if you have to worry about that. I'll kill myself first if I do that."
Unbeknownst to them, Luffia was standing outside of Zoro's office, hearing the conversation from the start.
When she left Nami's office, she thought of going to Franky's area. Right before getting into the elevator, she decided to invite Zoro in and that's when she saw Nami walking inside Zoro's office. As soon as she arrived in the slightly opened door, she overheard their conversation, at least most of it.
To say that she was shocked is an understatement. There is budding happiness from hearing the words coming directly from Zoro. She can't explain how happy she was but at the same time, she feels that she shouldn't be too happy about it.
There was someone who was hurt because of her. No matter what Zoro does, it won't still take away the guilt that she has.
Now, the question is, how is she supposed to handle this knowledge? Stepping away from Zoro's office, Luffia decided that she needs some time to be left alone.
The only place she can think of is her ship. Sneaking away, she walked from the office building to the docks where her ship - Sunny Go is.
Sitting on its figurehead, her eyes remained focused on the amazing view in front of her. The blue ocean is calm, soothing - yet her mind is not. She's really happy that Zoro is in love with her, but the idea of Tashigi being hurt because of it is knawing in her heart.
She never wanted anyone to get hurt because of her. This is the last thing she wanted.
Sighing, she decided to lay down on the figurehead, staring at the blue sky while her mind is in a mess.
Luffia remained there for a long time - she does not know how long. It must be a few hours as the blue sky turned into different hues as if to signal the dawn is approaching near.
Another sigh left her mouth.
"That's quite a deep sigh, don't you think?"
Startled by the familiar voice, Luffia abruptly stood up from lying on the figurehead to look at the newcomer.
"Zoro. How - "
"You always come here whenever you like to be left alone. We've been searching for you. Is there something wrong?"
Zoro joined her on the figurehead. The sun is going down, making such a beautiful sight right in front of them. Yet, Luffia cannot appreciate it right now.
She debated whether to tell him what she heard or not. If she decided not to, sooner or later, he will notice that something is wrong - and even if she doesn't, what can she do anyway? It's not like she can change something to ease Tashigi's pain.
Luffia remained silent for quite a while and so as Zoro. It's a good thing that he's not insisting on her to talk about what is bothering her. He knew that if she wants to tell him something, she will at her own pace and by her choice.
Even if she won't tell him anything, Zoro figured that it must have been something about what he and Nami were talking about earlier.
After talking with Nami earlier, Zoro stepped out of his office only to find out from an employee that Luffia was there a few moments ago.
He has doubts that she must have overheard their conversation and he was right. Her plan to bother Franky and Usopp never happened and she was missing for a few hours.
Zoro decided to leave her be while contemplating how he should approach the situation should she had heard the conversation.
Seeing her frown like this, it burdens Zoro that she has to find out about it this way. It wasn't what he wanted. He planned to at least wait for a few more weeks before telling her.
"Tashigi and I broke up." Deciding it's now or never, Zoro dropped the bomb right in front of her. Their eyes met. "It is my fault and not yours." His voice is full of sincerity while remained eye contact.
"But - "
"I was planning on telling you after a few weeks, but I guess not everything goes the way we want to, huh?"
Opening this topic right now, Zoro is risking everything he has with Luffia. He's risking the friendship they built for years in exchange for a sliver of hope that she will feel the same way as he does. It is inevitable that he must risk it. He'd rather know now that keep his silence. He learned it the hard way that ignoring what his feelings are telling him can do to him and to the people involved.
He ignored the feelings he had before - and look where it brought him. He ended up hurting someone who doesn't deserve it. Above all, Luffia deserves the truth. Even if it means he will get a rejection. Turning back into what they used to will be impossible, however, this is the truth that Luffia needs to hear from him.
"Luffia... I need you to listen to me..."
It is now or never...
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AN: *Evil laughter*