Hello everyone!
I´m sorry for this short chapter, but this chapter is just a built up for the next chapter, which will finally reveal the reason for Nami´s abrupt and mysterious disappearance. I don´t know when I will publish the next chapter (so I beg you to be patient with me), because it will be quite tough for me, as I try to make amends to everyone who love Nami and is disappointed with her portrayal in my story. At least I hope that I will succeed. Since, unfortunately, I cannot respond directly to guest posts, I would like to take this opportunity to thank my last two guest writers for their comments, especially for the sincere criticism. I will try to work on it and hope for your support in the future, so that I can continue to improve as an author.
Chopper turned the rear-view mirror so that it faced the entrance to the clinic and waited for Zoro to come through the large, glassed-in entrance of the clinic at any moment, which he awaited with growing impatience. It had been a mistake to leave Zoro alone in the clinic, he knew that by now, but he was determined to make up for his mistake and take care of him as best he could and patted his cell phone almost lovingly, on which his working hours as well as those of the others were entered, so that they could take turns looking after Zoro.
When Zoro's green mop of hair finally appeared, Chopper beamed all over and jumped out of the car to give his friend a tumultuous hug, who returned the embrace with a gentle pat on the back.
"I am so glad to see you," Chopper said, looking at Zoro, especially at the thick green hair that had already grown quite long and the angular face that had become a little narrower, but at least he looked a little better than he had a month ago when they had returned with him from Seville.
"Me too. I was beginning to think they would not let me out at all. You cannot imagine all the things I had to sign and read through before I could finally leave. Where are the others?"
"They couldn't come, unfortunately, but they'll definitely join us later. I'll drive you to Franky's first so you can wash your clothes and eat something while I explain your therapy plan for the next few months."
Zoro agreed and swung into the passenger seat with the bag. Throughout the ride, Chopper talked about how they had all been, but Zoro did not seem to be listening to him, staring at his dark display the whole time as if expecting a call or a message.
"Have you actually heard from him since then?" Zoro asked, puffing contemptuously as he thought of how much pleasure it must give his rival to expose him as a brutal thug in front of the cook.
"I'm sure Mihawk told him everything immediately after the cook saw how badly his face was battered."
The doctor shook his head but kept his eyes on the road.
"No, he didn't. Sanji's father must have spoken to him that same evening and Mihawk agreed to keep quiet. He said he owed you something anyway. What did he mean by that?"
Zoro grunted.
"It's a long and messy story." Zoro clutched the cell phone so tightly that Chopper was afraid he might crush it with his bare hands and looked at the houses, streets, trees, and bright blue sky that passed them by. Even though Chopper would have liked to know more, he realized that Zoro didn't want to talk about it and decided to steer the conversation to more pleasant things, like their planned weekend trips, with him and the others, although he was already dreading the white-water trip, as he confessed to Zoro.
"Don't worry, I'll be with you" Zoro assured him, waving his hand through his unruly curls.
Soon they reached Franky's apartment and Chopper drove the car into the spacious parking garage, which was in the basement of the building and was empty at this time of day. Once inside, Chopper rang the doorbell briefly and then stepped back, whereupon Zoro looked first in amazement and then in complete disbelief at the beaming faces of his friends, who all threw themselves at him at once.
"Hey, hey, hey it's okay, I missed you too!" Zoro assured them, but no one would let go of him, so he was forced to drag them into the apartment, which was brightly and colorfully decorated and smelled of rice, cutlet, egg, and the sweet and sour sauce that Zoro liked so much, and his stomach tightened briefly. It did not escape the others either that something was wrong with Zoro, whose body stiffened for a moment before relaxing again as he walked with slow steps toward the kitchen from where the delicious smells came.
The scent alone was enough to trigger again the painful memory of the cook he had successfully repressed in recent weeks. But apparently the vegetable chopper did not want him to forget, or he would not have revealed Zoro´s favourite food to his adoptive father, who was standing in the kitchen cooking for him.
"What do you want here?"
"What do you think? Cooking for you, of course. Sanji said that was your favourite dish."
"We thought we'd make you happy, so we called Sanji and asked for the recipe so his father could recreate it for us. He would have loved to come himself, but..."
Zoro raised his hand to silence her.
"It's okay, save the explanation, Carrott."
Zoro's gaze drifted from Zeff to another uninvited guest Zoro would have gladly done without. He knew Ussop was with her, yet he had hoped she had enough decency not to show up and clenched his hands into fists. Of all the women, Ussop had fallen in love with Robin. She did not fit him at all with her macabre, black humour and could not be more different from Ussop in her interests, yet they were still together, for whatever reason.
Growling, Zoro took off with his bag so he would not have to look at Robin any longer and let Franky led him to the guest room, which was at least twice as big as his bedroom at home. It was a beautiful room, with a large bed, a huge closet built into the wall, and a completely glazed ceiling from which one could watch the starry sky at night if the electric blinds were raised. Zoro could remember this room all too well; after all, he and the cook had stayed here once, years ago, making slow love for hours under a brilliant, beautiful blood moon.
"Maybe I should move to the hotel after all."
"No way. You are staying here. Or... do not you like the room? You can sleep on the couch, too."
"And listen to you having fun with your two girlfriends right above me the whole time? No, thanks. I'll be fine." Zoro threw the bag on the bed and unpacked it, because he wanted to wash the dirty clothes.
"How are you actually coping with the fact that Sanji is dating someone else?" Franky inquired. Zoro shrugged his shoulders.
"You mean, the fact that he's fucking my rival? Great of course! I mean isn't it ironic that the man I wanted to spend the rest of my life with and the man with the... " Zoro bit his lips.
"The man with whom you what?"
"Oh, forget it. It has been a long time. Let us go back to the others," Zoro suggested and left, avoiding further questions from his friend, and silencing his growling stomach, which immediately began to growl as soon as the smell of food hit his nose again. Fortunately, the food, tasted a little different than what he was used to from the cook, otherwise he probably would not have been able to get a damn bite down. Chopper inquired if he needed anything else from home.
Zoro thought about it and finally said that he wanted to get some more clothes, since everything else was dirty except for the clothes he was wearing. The doctor suggested driving him there.
"I have to go there anyway, to pick up the mail for Sanji", Zeff interrupted their conversation.
The green-haired man was not thrilled by the prospect of going to their house with the old man, of all people, but he could not think of any reason why he should refuse his offer.
The drive dragged on endlessly, at least that is how it seemed to Zoro, who was already counting the passing trees and street signs out of sheer boredom and looking at the old man's face reflected in the windowpane. Somehow Zeff was still a mystery to Zoro even after seven years. This was mainly because they only saw each other at Christmas and Sanji's birthday, and even then, they talked truly little, if at all. Zoro would not even know what to talk about with him either, because they had nothing else in common except for the cook and were both taciturn, which made a proper conversation even more difficult.
Sighing, Zoro propped his arm against the window, wondering what his chances were of not breaking his neck if he simply threw himself out of the car while driving. When he caught sight of the street lined with trees and pretty, little row houses that had once been his home, he sat up a little straighter as they slowly approached their destination. Putting one foot in front of the other, Zoro walked slowly to the house, gazing at the abandoned, dark building lit by the occasional streetlights. The silence and darkness that met him as he stepped through the front door was both comforting and unsettling, reviving the memories of that night when the power went out, which were paralyzing his body.
"Are you all right?" Zeff inquired behind him, flipping on the light that catapulted Zoro back from his gloomy thoughts to the present.
"Yes," Zoro said, continuing his way until he stopped again at the stairs leading up to the upper floor and looked up into the unlit second floor, which further reinforced Zeff's suspicion that something was wrong. He did not know exactly why Zoro was in psychiatric treatment, but his feeling and the green-haired man's posture told him that he was afraid of something and his thoughts were far away, because his eyes stared expressionlessly upwards, as if there was someone there, he was afraid of. Cautiously, Zeff approached the stairs and turned on the light switch, which was located at the foot of the stairs as well and put his hand on Zoro's back, who twitched slightly under the touch, without taking his eyes off the stairs.
"Want me to pack up some things for you while you go through your mail?" Zeff asked, getting a shake of the head from Zoro, who slowly started to move, closely followed by Zeff, who went ahead to turn on the light in the bedroom as well. The green-haired man's dark eyes wandered around the room as if looking for something and finally stopped at the closet, which Zoro walked towards and opened. Zeff stopped in the doorway and watched as Zoro packed a few pieces of clothing, his hands fleetingly brushing his partner's garments before he realized the absurdity of his actions and hastily slammed the closet door shut, trying to push away the painful memories that loomed on his face.
"We can go, I'm done here," Zoro pressed out grimly as he pushed himself ungently past Zeff. Taking two stairs at a time, Zoro fled down the stairs and out of the house. Zeff spared himself further questions and unlocked the car for Zoro to get in, who suddenly could not disappear fast enough. Wordlessly, Zeff placed a white envelope in front of Zoro and looked at the other brown envelope addressed to both his son and Zoro, drawing curiosity from the Mooshead.
"It's probably just a bill" he commented shrugging his shoulders at the envelope, but Zeff could tell by the weight that this was not true and since it was addressed to both Zoro and Sanji, he opened it and a clear sleeve containing a DVD slipped out of the envelope. Zoro's hands shook as he read his name and the cook's, and he blanched when he recognized the writing on the cover.
"That's Nami's handwriting," he stated, looking over at Zeff, who was as surprised as he was.