Hello and welcome to a new chapter!
Thank you for following this story and for supporting me with comments. This was the hardest chapter I´ve ever written so far, because I was really struggling with it. But I hope you like it. Thank you for your comments I really appreciate it. There are not many chapters left until we are nearing the end, so I want to get back into my 14-day rhythm to give the story a worthy conclusion.
Stay safe and see you soon!
Softly, the lights streaming from the apartments lit up the street, directing Zeff and Zoro to Franky's apartment, which they slowly rolled toward and pulled into a small parking space. Zoro felt the old man's blue eyes looking at him expectantly and murmured a soft "thank you." But as soon as his feet touched the ground, he heard the old man's voice and turned his head.
Zeff handed him a small card on which he had quickly written something with a ballpoint pen and handed it to Zoro, who looked at the small piece of paper questioningly.
"Listen, I know that you and my son are not a couple anymore but... you can still call me if you need anything or... if you ever want something decent to eat. You're welcome at the Baratié anytime. Always."
Zoro did not know what to say to that, so he just nodded silently and stuffed the note into the pocket of his jeans, got out of the car and moved towards the house with brisk steps, which, however, as soon as he reached the hallway, became slower and slower until his feet were just shuffling their way up the stairs.
Franky received him with a smile and gently pushed Zoro into the apartment, who rolled his eyes at the sight of his friends.
"Hey, you guys really don't need to mother me. I'm fine, so go home, okay?"
The friends exchanged glances but did not seem like they wanted to leave, instead they remained where they were and Zoro shook his head resignedly but smiling.
"Well, guess this is going to be some kind of slumber party then" Zoro sighed and headed for the couch with his bag, where the others left him a small gap between Vivi and Carrot, who immediately hooked up with him as if they did not want to leave his side for the rest of the evening. Luffy held up two DVDs for Zoro to choose from, and Zoro's eyes widened as he suddenly remembered the DVD with Nami's handwriting that he had packed in his bag. Astonished, his friends watched as he rummaged around in his bag and pulled out a DVD, staring at it as if he were holding a rare artifact.
"What's this?" Vivia asked, looking at the DVD with wide eyes that grew even bigger when she saw the Nami handwriting.
"Where did you get it?"
Zoro shrugged.
"I got it in the mail. It was addressed to me and the cook."
"Then shouldn't we call Sanji? I'm sure he wants to know what's on the DVD too," Carrot suggested, and Luffy was already sending him a video chat request before Zoro could even get the word "no!" past his lips.
After several rings, the voice of the cook finally rang through the receiver, who was visibly surprised by the call, but before he could say anything, Luffy already cut him off and excitedly told him about the DVD.
It was quiet for a long time and Luffy was afraid that the screen had frozen, but then Sanji finally started talking and asked Luffy to explain everything.
"It's best if Zoro explains it," Luffy said and threw the cell phone in Zoro's direction, where it landed first against Zoro's face and then on his lap. At the sight of the cook, Zoro was speechless and even forgot his anger at Luffy.
"Is it true what Luffy says? There's a DVD of Nami?" Sanji asked excitedly.
"Yes," Zoro said curtly, for that was all his tightened throat could manage.
He heard Sanji say something to someone, probably Mihawk, and saw the screen shake and heard footsteps and then a door sound before the cook's face was on the screen again, signalling with a nod that he was ready and waiting for Zoro to turn the camera to the TV so they could watch the footage.
Jimbei had already inserted the DVD into the device and gave Zoro a silent sign that everything was ready.
Brook, who was sitting next to Chopper, gently nudged him in the side and pointed with a nod of his head, first towards the kitchen and then towards Luffy, who was sitting next to Chopper. The doctor was irritated for a moment, but then he understood and now also poked Luffy in the side, who even after the second rib poke still didn't understand what Chopper meant until he leaned over and whispered in his ear, whereupon the black-haired man poked Ussopp in the side, who then signalled Robin, Franky, Vivi and Carrot to follow him. Franky gestured for his friends to follow him upstairs to his bedroom, where he had a second TV, and, walking by, put the remote for the DVD player in Zoro's lap.
"We'll be upstairs if you need anything" he simply explained, studiously ignoring Zoro's protests as he tried to hold him by the arm. The others also passed over Zoro's attempts to get them to stay, even if they were curious about what Nami had to say to them.
Capitulating, Zoro lowered his arm and looked back at the screen, which still showed the cook, trying to focus on some point behind Sanji before the blond's blue eyes would haunt him again for nights. Secretly, he had hoped that the blond looked at least as beat up as he felt since he found out he was screwing his archrival, but to his regret, he looked better than ever. His tanned complexion accentuated his dark blue eyes and the short, tousled blond hair that fell casually into his forehead, lending his already attractive face almost more sex appeal than Zoro could bear.
The cook was visibly confused to see Zoro, as he had thought he was at the clinic, and the pent-up anger that had still been quietly smouldering inside him since Zoro had just taken off that time was boiling up again.
"Why aren't you at the clinic? Did you drop out of therapy? Did they throw you out because of your bad manners?" the cook inquired.
Zoro's eyes narrowed to narrow slits as he heard the reproachful undertone in the cook's voice.
"Of course, I don't! Who do you think I am?!" Zoro cried indignantly, and would have liked to strangle the cook, through the phone.
"One never knows with you! All I know is that you disappeared back then, and I never heard from you again after that! Do you have any idea how much I worried about you?"
"Well, you got over it very quickly, thanks to Mihawk" Zoro growled, watching as the cook's features slipped and blanched.
"How do you know...?"
"Doesn't matter. It is none of my business who you sleep with. I just never thought you'd hurt me with Mihawk, of all people..."
"Me hurt you? You broke my heart first by breaking up with me!"
"Because you made a baby with our best friend!"
"Yes, I have a child! And she is the best thing that ever happened to me, so get over it!"
"Fine, then be happy with her and your new lover! How is his nose doing anyway? Has it recovered from my fist yet?"
In the eyes of the blonde, anger flared and blazed brighter than hellfire.
"That was you?! Have you completely lost your mind?! But I am not surprised since you solve everything with your fists."
"At least I had a reason! You rip other people's underpants off on suspicion!"
"It was YOUR damn boxers if you remember! The ones I gave you!"
"Maybe I should give them to Bartolomeo! Then he can wear them while I screw him!" Zoro yelled, ending the conversation.
Sanji managed to stop himself from hurling the phone against the wall. Furious, he jumped up and stomped across the room, cursing so loudly that Mihawk came up and inquired what was going on. But Sanji was so upset that he took all his anger out on Mihawk.
"Why didn't you tell me that Zoro hit you?"
Mihawk was so caught off guard by Sanji's sudden anger and the fact that he was confronting him about Zoro that he did not know what to say at first and could only watch Sanji pace back and forth, repeatedly running his hands through his already dishevelled hair.
"What was he doing here anyway? Who told him about us? My friends would never..."
Sanji shook his head because it did not matter the cat was out of the bag. This was not how Zoro had been supposed to find out, he was going to tell him when he was released from the therapy center. But most of all, he was annoyed that he would not find out now what the DVD was all about.
"Damn it!" Sanji snorted, flinging his cell phone angrily onto the bed. Appealingly, Mihawk put his hand on Sanji's shoulder.
"This is exactly why I didn't want to tell you. Nothing is broken, so..."
"...It's okay for him to hit you?" Sanji finished his sentence, pushing Mihawk's hand off his shoulder like an annoying insect.
"Of course not, but I can understand him. He is hurt and jealous. It will take time for him to realize that he has lost you for good. Come cielo*, let us go downstairs and cook something together. That will calm you down."
Mihawk blew a kiss on Sanji's hair and led him out of the room by the hand, who, though still seething with anger inside, at least let Mihawk escort him out of the room, as far away as was possible from his cell phone, which at that moment rang again and flashed Luffy's number.
"He's not answering," Luffy noted disappointedly, glancing at Zoro, who was sitting on the couch surrounded by his friends, arms folded in front of his chest.
"Told you so," Zoro replied grimly, sinking a little lower in his seat.
"What happened, anyway?"
"The usual. With those two, one word from the other is enough to make the situation boil over immediately, Vivi" Ussopp commented shaking his head at what was happening.
"Then Zoro calls him from his cell phone, apologizes, and the two of them can finally watch the DVD together" Luffy suggested, squinting over at Zoro encouragingly, whereupon the green-haired one wrapped his arms all the tighter around his torso and resolutely moved his head from side to side to signal to his friend that he would not apologize. Disappointed, the friends lowered their heads, except for Vivi, who clenched her hands into fists and abruptly shouted at Zoro:
"But it can't go on like this with you two, Zoro. I know a lot has happened and you've both hurt each other a lot, but... do you really want to break up with Sanji like this? He'll probably move to Spain after the filming, and then we'll only see him at Christmas at most."
Vivi circled the coffee table and crouched down in front of Zoro. Tears shimmered in her eyes as she reached out her hand and with her fingers gently, lifted his chin that was almost resting on his chest, forcing him to look her in the eye.
"I can imagine how much it hurts to know he's with someone else now, but... wouldn't it be much worse if you lost him altogether? You meant everything to each other once, do you really want to give that up just because you are too proud to reach out to each other? Do you want to lose another friend?"
Zoro eluded her fingers, but she saw that he was thinking about her words and decided to leave him alone. For now, at least. Since it was late and most of them had to go back to work tomorrow, they decided to go home. While Vivi and Carrot gave Zoro a quick hug, the men confined themselves to gently squeezing Zoro's shoulder as they passed before disappearing through the apartment door one by one, leaving Franky and Zoro behind, who himself was still sitting on the couch staring at the DVD player that still had Nami's DVD in it long after the door slammed shut for the last time that evening.
"Come on, let's go to sleep" Franky said and gave Zoro an affectionate smack on the back of the head, which at least snapped him out of his thoughts and brought him back to reality. Zoro got up and went to the guest room, where he fell onto the bed, snorting, and spent the rest of the night staring at the ceiling, thinking about the fight with the cook.
In doing so, he had no idea that the cook could not get their argument out of his mind either, which even Mihawk's tender attempts to distract him with caresses didn't seem to work.
"Don't take it all to heart," Mihawk whispered against Sanji's neck as they did the dishes together after dinner, wrapping his arms around the latter's body from behind and burying his face against Sanji's neck to breathe small, tender kisses on his beloved's sensitive skin.
"I wish I could," Sanji sighed, caressing his companion's dark mop of hair with his hand as he pressed himself even tighter against him in response.
"Let me distract you," he breathed promisingly into his ear, kissing Sanji just below the earlobe. As tempting as his offer sounded, he still failed to distract Sanji from his argument, which was playing in the blond's mind like a movie on endless loop. Again and again, he reviewed the conversation, trying to figure out at what point their conversation had gotten out of hand. Finally, Mihawk gave up his attempts and gave Sanji one last kiss before retiring to the patio with a bottle of red wine and a good book to read. Sanji took his daughter, who was still sitting at the kitchen table colouring, by the hand and led her up the stairs, where he gently tucked her into bed and took the book from the nightstand to read to her.
"Dad is sad" Sessa noted, not missing her father's mood as he flipped through the book to find the page they had last stopped at. He considered whether to tell the truth or rather lie and decided to tell the truth, because he wanted her to be just as honest with him one day when she had worries or sorrows.
"Yes, I am. I... had a fight with a friend. Do you remember Zoro?"
"The moss monster (The moss monster)?" Sanji nearly snorted with laughter, as she could not have found a more appropriate nickname for him.
"That's him. But he can be different," Sanji said as he wiped tears from his eyes and flipped the book closed. Carefully, he crawled under the covers to his daughter and snuggled as close as he could to the small body, enjoying her warmth that was both comforting and reassuring. Lovingly, his long, slender fingers stroked through her hair as he began to tell her a little about Zoro.
"I know he can be very intimidating because he doesn't want to show anyone that he is just as scared and vulnerable as the rest of us. Just like you, he lost his mom and dad when he was little and no other relatives either, so he had to learn to cope and be strong on his own at an early age."
"He's all alone?" Sessa asked in shock, looking up at her father.
"Of course, he isn't. He still has Luffy, Ussopp, Vivi, Chopper, Franky..."
"But he doesn't have a mommy and daddy anymore," Sessa said sadly, snuggling comfortingly against her father's chest, which had grown bigger in the last few weeks, though not as big as her mother's, nor as nice and soft as hers. Little tears rolled down her cheeks as she thought back to the time when Mom had suddenly disappeared and she had felt all alone, and she felt sorry for Zoro, who no longer even had a dad like her to comfort him when he was sad.
Sanji hugged his daughter to him and reassured her again and again that Zoro was still fine and that he was not alone because he still had his friends, people who loved him and were there for him and were at least as valuable as parents, and Sessa slowly began to calm down again and finally fell asleep in his arms from exhaustion. After making sure she was sleeping soundly enough, Sanji carefully disengaged from her and searched the bed for his cell phone, but fortunately it was still where he had left it. After his conversation with Zoro, he had received several more calls from Luffy, but they had finally stopped after the fifth attempt, and he let himself fall backwards onto the bed, sighing. He struggled with himself whether he should call Zoro and reconcile with him, after all he had crossed a line, but... he could understand him, his jealousy, the pain he must have felt when he found out he was with Mihawk, after all he probably would not have reacted any differently if he had caught Zoro with Bartolomeo. Still, he could not just let that pass and expected at least an apology from Zoro to Mihawk and typed the words let us talk into his cell phone which he sent off immediately. An eternity passed as Sanji waited for an answer to come back, but then he heard the beep he had hoped for and turned on his phone, which had a message from Zoro on it.
About what?
About what?! You know perfectly well. So, do you want to talk or not?
It rang. Sanji pressed the green button and they both said "I'm sorry" at the same time.
"Sorry for what?" Zoro tried to break the awkward silence that followed.
"How our conversation ended. For not telling you about Mihawk and me sooner. I was going to tell you when you finished your therapy."
"I'm sorry about our fight, too. I... was just..."
"I know. I wouldn't have reacted any differently if I were you."
"Do you still want to watch the DVD? I can make you a copy and send it to you..."
"No need, I'll come home. Then we can watch it together and finally talk. What do you think?"
"Ok," Zoro just said and Sanji promised to take the next plane with Sessa and let him know when he would come and hung up.
Two days and several conversations with Mihawk about the sense and nonsense of this flight later, Sanji finally reached his old hometown in Vivi´s private jet and although he was a bit nervous about the DVD and the reunion with Zoro, he was happy to be back and to see his friends again, who all greeted him enthusiastically, except for Zoro who stayed in the background and watched Sanji.
After they had all greeted each other, Franky grabbed the suitcases before Sanji could protest and carried them to the car, closely followed by the others who had gathered around Sanji and Sessa and followed them like shadows, except for Zoro who walked behind them and brought up the rear of the group.
"Your father has closed the restaurant especially for today on the occasion of your visit and is preparing a delicious welcome dinner for you with the rest of the crew" Vivi explained, who had hooked herself under Sanji and was looking at him with her beautiful, wide eyes that reminded him of a clear mountain lake.
Sanji was both amazed and touched by the gesture and could not wait to see his colleagues again.
Since everyone was coming from work, everyone but Sanji and Zoro had brought their own vehicles, so the two had no choice but to climb into Franky's pick-up, which at least still had a back seat, so they were not forced to sit in the truck bed.
"We're really glad you're back, if only for a little while, right Zoro?" Franky said, giving Zoro, who was sitting next to him in the passenger seat, a friendly nudge in the side, who grunted at least.
"How long are you and Sessa staying?"
"Only two days unfortunately, I promised Mihawk I'd be back quickly so I wouldn't miss so much training."
"Seems to be going great, you've gotten some real muscle in that short time."
"It's not that much and it won't be, at least that's not what the production company wants. And I prefer it too" Sanji added quickly, stroking Sessa's shock of reddish-blonde hair.
"Anyway, you look great, really refreshed" Franky said, giving Sanji an admiring look through the rear-view mirror that made Sanji blush. He was not used to getting compliments and was visibly uncomfortable especially under Zoro's intense gaze at him through the rear-view mirror, who had been staring at him like that since he arrived.
Maybe he should not have chosen the yellow skintight shirt and dark blue skinny jeans after all, even if they were admittedly, extremely comfortable, and perfectly accentuated his long legs. When they finally reached the restaurant, Sanji looked with love at his old workplace, which was for him almost something like a second home and got out, with Sessa as the car had stopped. It seemed like an eternity since he had last been here, and he looked at the Baratié with a mixture of nostalgia and melancholy as they slowly walked toward the entrance. He almost suffered a heart attack when he was met by the voices of his colleagues, who welcomed him euphorically.
"Thanks guys! It's really good to be back!" Sanji said, moved, wiping two small tears from his eyes as he hugged one colleague after another to his chest, realizing how much he had missed them all.
"Welcome home, kid!" Zeff was the last to greet him, literally sweeping Sanji off his feet as he hugged him tightly.
"Hey, I still need my lungs!" Sanji said, gently patting his father on the back, who was clearly having a hard time separating from his son, but when he finally caught sight of his granddaughter, he put his son back down and turned to Sessa.
"There's my little darling!" Zeff cried, kneeling in front of Sessa, who unlike then was not quite so afraid of her grandfather, and hold out a picture she had painted for him.
"For you grandpa!" said Sessa, whereupon Zeff's head flew in Sanji's direction and stared at him as if she had just recited the number Pi to the 1,000-decimal place. Sanji was at least as surprised as he was, but he was happy for his old man, who carefully held out his arms and pulled his granddaughter to him as gently as if she were a butterfly.
"Merci mon ange**!" he said and kissed Sessa tenderly on the forehead, whereupon she giggled because his moustache tickled her face.
Everyone was touched by the sight of the two of them, happy for Sessa's huge progress, except for Zoro who marched past the two of them towards the table and sat down rudely on one of the chairs at the richly set table, showing Sanji once again why there was no future with the green-haired man.
Of course, Zeff had completely overdone it with the food, but at least they had Luffy with them, who was eating for 4 as usual.
"Your hands are really ideal for stroking tummies, you should become a masseur instead of a fitness trainer" Luffy said as Zoro was giving his belly a little rub, because Law wasn´t not with him and burped contentedly, whereupon Zoro pulled his hands away and averted his eyes. Sanji had felt since his arrival that something was wrong with Zoro, who seemed to be preoccupied with something, but he knew he would not be able to get a word out of him in front of the others and decided to leave Zoro alone for now.
During the meal, everyone chatted animatedly with each other and listened intently to Sanji talk about the shooting, his training with Mihawk, and about Seville in general. Sanji could not stop raving as he told them about the friendly people, the picturesque city with its Moorish buildings, and the fantastic Mediterranean cuisine he had the privilege to experience, not noticing how quickly time passed as it was already getting dark. As Sessa rubbed her eyes tiredly, Sanji decided it was time to head home, after all he really wanted to watch the DVD, he had come all the way for, if not just for that. He had missed Patty, Carne, Luffy, Vivi, Chopper, Ussopp, even his old man, and was glad to be back in his old home. However, he did feel a little queasy after they said goodbye to Sanji's colleagues and drove to Zoros and his house. He was still not sure whether he should really sleep in his old house for the two days, with which he had not only fond memories, and looked forward to the reunion with mixed feelings.
His gaze wandered over the dark windows for a long time before finally looking at Zoro, who also let his gaze wander over the house before finally making his way to the front door and opening the other one with the key he still possessed. Sanji wondered if Zoro had been sleeping here since his release, while he followed the others into the house with Sessa by the hand, who stood somewhat indecisively in the hallway, giving each other questioning looks because they were unsure whether to stay or go. Eventually, they decided to leave, giving him and Zoro time to talk and hopefully find a way to interact with each other in the future without having to constantly shut one of them out.
"We were talking. About Nami's DVD and we... think you should watch it alone. After all, she sent it to both of you and... she even put your names on the DVD, so we do not think it's right to be there, even though we're admittedly curious."
"Then stay, at least I don't mind."
"Neither do I", Zoro replied breaking his silence for the first time that day.
"No, it's better this way. Besides... you still have some things to work out" Vivi said and hugged first Sanji and then Zoro goodbye and whispered "Please talk to each other" in both of their ears and disappeared out the door. The others also hugged them both and disappeared until only Zeff remained.
"Do you want me to stay? I could spend that much time with Sessa while you guys watch the DVD?"
Sanji thought about it and suggested something else instead.
"Could you maybe...take her to your place until Zoro and I are done here? I'd pick her up later, too, then."
"No, that'll be too late. She can sleep in your old room, both of you, if you want, and then tomorrow morning we'll all have breakfast together, if that's okay with you."
"OK," Sanji said, hugging first his daughter and then his father.
"I'll hurry princess so I can be back with you soon. And until then, be good to Grandpa, okay?"
Sessa nodded and hesitantly followed her grandfather.
After they disappeared to the door, he turned to Zoro and saw that he was holding the DVD and shivered.
"Are you ready?" Sanji asked.
"No, that's why let's get it over with quickly before I change my mind."
Zoro walked over to the TV and put in the DVD, while Sanji sat down on the couch and waited for Zoro to join him, who not a minute later sat down at the other end of the couch and turned on the TV and DVD player.
Though Zoro squatted stoically in his seat like a statue and did not let on, Sanji could tell by the dogged look on his face and the arms pressed tightly to his chest that he was as nervous and tense as he was, and his nostrils flared as Nami appeared on the screen, or at least someone who looked like her. For the pale, sunken face that sat enthroned on that frail body, almost completely consumed by illness, had little to do with the vivacious, energetic Nami they had once known, sitting there before them on a beige couch, giving them a tired smile that made their eyes light up, at least for a tiny moment.
"You must be surprised to see me, and I'm sure you have thousands of questions that I would love to answer all, but I'm afraid I don't have enough time for that anymore. To be honest, I do not even know if I will live to see the next day. Even the doctors can´t tell me how much time I have left. The only thing that is certain is that it´s not much, maybe not even enough time to get everything done and make up for my mistakes."
Every breath seemed to be a feat of strength for her, making her lungs tremble under her bony chest, and her brown eyes were so sunken in and barely able to look at the camera.
There are so many things I regret and then again, I do not. For example, our night together, Sanji. After I found out I was pregnant, I did not know what to do. Should I tell you and destroy your relationship? Or should I keep quiet and have an abortion? Yes, as awful as it may sound to you, I also thought about ending the pregnancy prematurely. I mean...what alternative did I have at that point? I love you guys so endlessly that it would have torn my heart apart if you had broken up because of me. You were my little glimmer of hope that there might be someone out there for me, too, who could love me the way you two love each other. At least I always clung to that thought until... I had to give up my old life completely. There is something I could not tell you then because I was afraid. Afraid that you would try to protect me if you knew, and I had to prevent that at all costs, because this knowledge would only have put you in danger unnecessarily. In mortal danger. I was so naive when I took the job back then. And so terribly stupid to believe that this insanely well-paid job had nothing to do with criminal business. But when I realized what I had gotten myself into, that I had gotten involved with the mafia, it was already too late to pretend that I knew nothing about it. They would not have let me go alive either, I already knew too much about the dubious money laundering deals and the other dark machinations in which the company I worked for was involved.
I tried to contact the secret service in the hope of getting out of this halfway, but my employers got wind of it and I was forced to flee abroad. With their money as reinsurance in case they came after me and tried to kill me. So, I transferred the money to an account I had previously set up under a false name in the Seychelles and fled without saying goodbye to you or the others. I swear to you that I never spent a cent of that damn money but lived only on what I earned during my time as an accountant, you must believe me. I did not want that damn money, but it was the only life insurance I had for myself and my unborn baby that I decided to keep. Pretty selfish huh? But I could not do it Sanji. I could not abort the baby, not after I first saw her on the ultrasound and realized for the first time that she was not just a part of me, but also a part of you, and I couldn't bring myself to abort. And I have never regretted this decision. Sessa is the most beautiful and best thing that ever happened to me and I am so infinitely grateful for every day I got to spend with her, even if that time was short."
Nami fought back the tears in her eyes and kept taking slow breaths to calm herself as she continued to speak.
"I've really tried everything to stay alive, but it's... so terribly exhausting. The chemotherapy has taken almost all my strength and for what? To slowly be eaten away inside by this crappy disease. The doctors say that the chemo is already too late, and my body is already infested with metastases and they cannot help me anymore. If I could, I would scream, but I do not even have the strength to do that anymore. It is so unfair that Sessa must suffer the most after all and it... breaks my heart to imagine that I have to leave my baby behind and won't be able to be there for her and comfort her anymore. So, all my hope rests on you guys. I know I am asking a lot of you after all I have done, but... please do not take your disappointment out on Sessa, she can't help my mistakes. I realize it is a lot to ask, but you are all Sessa has left in the world. I am sure if you just give her a chance, you will see what a wonderful girl she is, Zoro, and maybe one day you will take her into your heart. Please, even if it is hard for you, support Sanji as much as you can and try to forgive him, even if it's hard. Use the time you have left and don't waste it, or you will regret it one day like I did. I am so sorry that I never had the courage to tell you the truth, but the more time passed, the more I lost the courage to contact you. That is why I decided to do this video message. I will never forgive myself for just disappearing without saying anything and for keeping Sessa from you.
It would mean so much to me to know that my little girl is growing up with the two people I love most in this world. You have already survived a breakup once, so I hope you'll at least forgive Sanji if you can't forgive me, Zoro. I could not bear the thought of knowing that the two of you would break up because of a single mistake. I have never met two people who are so different in character and yet so perfect for each other. I love you with all my heart and I hope you watch the DVD until the end, because I still have a little farewell gift for you Sanji, to leave you at least a little memory of the first years I was able to spend with Sessa, which you missed because of me, so... goodbye."
With those words, the shot ended, but only to show another shot. It was a shot of Nami smiling at the camera, holding a tiny bundle in her arms with a tiny, wrinkled head peeking out, that made Sanji choke hard as Nami introduced the little thing as his daughter, Sessa. It was probably done right after Sessa´s birth by a nurse who held the camera while Nami, in an almost reverent voice, spread her tiny fingers and looked at them in fascination.
"Have you ever seen hands so tiny? And those little doll feet," she whispered, blowing a kiss on her daughter's feet, which were in a pink romper. "I still can't believe that this beautiful little girl really came out of me, that I actually created life. That we created life." Nami now looked directly at the camera.
"I hope one day I can find the courage to show her to you, or at least send you this video, so you know that she exists, that your dream of becoming a father has come true," she said as little tears ran down her cheeks.
"I miss you Sanji, I miss you and Zoro so much. I miss all of you so much," she sobbed, hugging the little bundle in her arms.
Sanji shook his head violently, as if trying to shake off the pain the sight of his beloved friend was causing him, but it was not working and his grief was growing immeasurably, reopening the wounds her loss had left on him.
"Oh Nami..." he sobbed, propping his head up on his forearms, which slumped forward powerlessly.
Zoro who had sat transfixed the whole time, next to the cook, suddenly stood up and cautiously approached the blond.
"Hey..." Zoro whispered as he knelt in front of Sanji, his hands tenderly caressing the cheeks of the cook, whose tears left small traces on Zoro's face.
"I miss her so much, Zoro", he sobbed uncontrollably.
"Me too..." Zoro replied, gently brushing the tears from Sanji's face with his thumb and pressing his forehead against the blonde as they mourned for Nami together.
*Affectionate Spanish pet name that means heaven and is used for one's partner, like darling, dearest, etc.
**Thank you my angel