Chapter 52

The wall of silence

"Hey, I think I see something!"

Everyone quickly gathered around Usopp who was searching the sea through his binoculars from the front of the Sunny on this beautiful morning, trying to see what he had spotted.

"What is it?" Nami asked.

"It looks like... It's a barrier reef!"

"Awesome, we gotta go!" Luffy yelled straight away.

"It doesn't look very big but it's full of colors!" the sniper continued with enthusiasm.

"I'm heading to starboard!" the cyborg decided, rushing towards the helm.

The crew members focused their attention on the point Usopp was showing, impatient to discover the reef. Not much had happened since they had set sail again a week earlier and the prospect of seeing such a beautiful panorama was delighting them.

After a few moments, Brook leaned forward.

"I see it, it is magnificent!"

"It looks as if there is an island just behind", Robin noted.

"That's right", Usopp confirmed. "It's not large and it seems deserted. However, its beach looks gorgeous!"

"Sandy beach?" Nami asked hopefully.

"White sandy beach with coconut palms!" the gunner gushed.

"Can we stop there?" Chopper asked them, eyes lit up.

"Why not, it might get us to have a good time", Sanji approved, dragging on his cigarette.

"There's something next to the coral reef!" Luffy suddenly exclaimed.

His friends concentrated on the growing landscape in sight and Usopp took his binoculars again.

"You're right, these are animals", he said after a few moments. "They're on a strip of sand just behind the reef."

"What kind of animals?" the swordsman asked. "Do they look hostile?"

"They..."

The sniper lowered his binoculars before sighing.

"You're not gonna believe me but they're marmots."

"Groundhogs?" Franky wondered. "In the middle of the ocean?"

"They must be... sea marmots", Robin suggested.

"In any case, that's original", the cook noted.

"I see them, they look adorable!" Nami got enthused.

At these words, Zoro scowled. His hopes of fighting legendary monsters were over if the navigator found the creatures so pretty.

"I'm going to ask them what they're doing when we get there!" Chopper decided.

Soon, the coasts of the island became clearer and the coral reef appeared in all its glory. The reef was drawing a large irregular border lining the small island and between the two, a small headland of sand was hosting a colony of marmots in the middle of the sea.

As the reindeer was about to greet them, Luffy frowned.

"These marmots are weird, it looks like they're not fine", he showed them.

Indeed, the group seemed to panic and was running from one side to the other of the strip of sand although no enemy seems to chase them. As Franky was skillfully maneuvering to get them through nearby without running aground the Sunny on the sand, Chopper made them grand gestures.

"Hello, are you all right?" he called them out.

One of the marmots rushed to their side and answered the reindeer in a visibly distraught tone. When Chopper turned to his friends to translate, he was actually worried.

"They're stuck on the strip of sand and the tide is rising! They can't swim!"

"We must help them!" Franky exclaimed immediately.

"How are we gonna do this?" Usopp worried.

"I'm on it!"

"Luffy, wait!"

Zoro didn't have the time to hold his captain back that he had already thrown himself onto the strip of sand in the middle of the marmots.

"You idiot, you can't swim either!" the cook yelled at him, red with anger.

"Go to the beach, I'll throw them to you!" the straw hat boy cried.

"Throw... them?" Usopp stuttered.

"Are you sure, Luffy?" the little reindeer shouted so that he could hear him over the waves sound.

"Yeah, no problem!"

Nami ran a tired hand over her face before sighing.

"Well, we don't have a choice now anyway", she growled. "Franky, we have to disembark as soon as possible."

"At your orders!"

The carpenter bustled and the Sunny quickly disembarked his passengers on the island. As soon as they arrived, Luffy sent them the curled up groundhogs at full speed. Robin caught the firsts with her multiple arms and Brook received the next salvo as best he could. The captain then sped up the pace in view of the rising water and the ten or so mammals that followed were literally catapulted onto the beach while Sanji, Zoro and Franky were drudging to catch them all before they crashed to the ground.

Finally, Luffy wrapped his elastic arms around a coconut palm and threw himself onto the beach, landing in a spray of sand that completely covered Usopp and Chopper.

When he straightened up and his friends had spit out all the sand they had swallowed, he had a huge, satisfied smile.

"I like this island! How about a barbecue?!"

It turned out that the trapped marmots were young and adventurous. They had therefore been trapped by the tide and when the rest of the colony turned up from the interior of the island a few moments later, Luffy became adulated like a star by small mammals as a result of his rescue.

In the midst of his new friends, the marmots showed him their ability to dig in the sand which allowed them to disappear in a few seconds to hide from predators. Impressed, Luffy soon tried to imitate them and Usopp, Chopper and Brook quickly came to join them while laughing.

"I'm gonna stay on the beach", Nami decided, spreading a towel over the fine sand. "Sun really feels good."

"For my part, I want to go around the island to see if there's something interesting", Robin said.

Sanji approved while lighting a cigarette.

"I'm gonna need fishermen for lunch. With the coral reef, I'm sure we can find delicious seafood and fish. We'll barbecue another day."

He then turned to Franky and Zoro.

"If you do it right away, we'll be just on time."

"I'll go with Robin."

Sanji stopped his cigarette a few inches from his lips and stared at the fencer.

"Why?" he asked him suspiciously.

"Because I want to."

The blond frowned and Franky tried to appease them.

"Don't worry, bro! I'm gonna take out my super rod and my giant landing net, I'll fish twice as fast!"

Sanji finally blew out his smoke, looking the swordsman up and down.

"Thanks, Franky."

Nami lay down on her towel and closed her eyes, visibly delighted. In the distance, the amused cries of Usopp, Chopper, Brook and Luffy were echoing joyfully and Robin and Zoro moved away towards the interior of the island while Franky left for the Sunny to get his equipment.

Still motionless, Sanji quickly finished his cigarette, annoyed by the marimo's behavior. For several days, he had noted an unusual behavior on his part, and in particular towards him. He had first tried to convince himself he was getting the wrong idea, but the more time passed, the more his suspicious grew. When he was bumping into him, Zoro was walking past him without seeing him and he could even have said that he was knowingly ignoring him if he didn't continue to answer his questions or send him messages when necessary. So he couldn't say the fencer was avoiding being in his presence but he still thought he was acting weird. He sometimes had the impression that their interactions had decreased in intensity and quality, and he didn't know why. Nevertheless, it remained intangible.

Finally, the blond shrugged and headed for the kitchen. He had work to do.

The crab Sanji had cut almost escaped from his hands when he heard the vociferations of the crew's navigator outside. He put down his utensils, left fishery products Franky had started to bring him and went out.

Jumping down from the Sunny to find out what was going on, he ended up alongside Usopp, Robin, Chopper, Brook and Nami and froze at the sight before his eyes.

Not far from them on the beach, Luffy was throwing huge blocks of stone at lightning speed on the fencer and this one was cutting them before it reached him, his eyes bright with excitement. The rest of the rocks were flying in all directions, strewing the beach with sharp fragments.

"What's going on?" Franky asked, arriving in his turn.

"They are training", Brook quietly answered, sipping a cup of tea.

"Look at these morons throwing stones at each other faces!" Nami muttered. "Talk about training, they're making a mess! We can't even enjoy the beach anymore!"

"Where do these stones come from?" the cook asked. "I didn't see them earlier."

"Our swordsman picked them up on the way", Robin replied. "We haven't seen any visible housing, but there is a quarry deposit in the center of the island."

Sanji stared at her for a second before turning his gaze on the fencer again. These rocks were huge and there were dozens!

Suddenly, Luffy ended up short of ammunition and he charged to his first mate, his multiple fists thrown forward. Facing him, Zoro focused and put his three swords in front of him to protect himself. He warded off the captain's elastics arms as best he could before trying to attack in his turn but the straw hat boy was fast. He nevertheless managed to push him back without succeeding in avoiding a large kick in the legs which broke him down. Yet he immediately put himself on guard again and rushed towards his captain, whirling round. His blades brushed against him but Luffy ducked down before grabbing his first mate by the collar of his tee-shirt and throwing him a huge head-butt. Zoro staggered and spat out the blood that was piling up in his mouth.

A few steps away, Usopp winced.

"They're completely insane!"

Nami turned on her heels, clearly annoyed.

"I'm going to my room, they're spoiling the landscape", she growled.

"I hope they don't hurt themselves too severely", Chopper worried.

"They don't seem to want to do each other any favors", Brook agreed, emptying his cup.

"We'll see", Franky concluded, shrugging his shoulders as he was picking up his fishing rod.

The cook remained silence and looked over his partner a little more. The swordsman was catching his breath and he noticed his gaze on his captain. His face was focused but a smile was lighting up his features. A proud and determined smile that Luffy was returning him, ready to throw their fight again.

Sanji had no doubts in those moments. He knew that Zoro was transcended by the prospect of competing against such a formidable opponent and that he was proud this man was his captain. The blond knew how to recognize when the fencer was in his element and it was the first time in days he was seeing him so beaming.

Nami spelt the end of the recess shortly before lunch and she sent to wash the two hotheads covered with blood and scratches before coming to the table. The swordsman nevertheless went first to the kitchen in search of a drink and Sanji greeted him with a withdrawn air, flinging him a glass and a bottle without a word.

As the fencer was drinking in silence after having sat around the table, Sanji started to shuck his oysters again. He then wondered if he didn't have the opportunity to confront Zoro about his behavior over the past few days. He had thought about it for the past few hours and he had come to the conclusion that he was perhaps unknowingly responsible for the state of the fencer since it was towards him that he was most different. Had he broken his word regarding his promise not to demand anything more from him? Yet, now that he had discovered why he was behaving this way, he had been careful not to let himself be overwhelmed by his disproportionate emotions and he had had the impression that their relationship had even blossomed since this incident. So why did Zoro seem so distant to him?

Annoyed, Sanji finally turned to the swordsman and he briefly wiped his hands on his cloth. If this bumbler simply knew how to express himself, he wouldn't be there!

"Marimo."

This one slowly looked up and waited for the rest without moving.

"Tell me what this is about."

Zoro raised his eyebrows, clearly surprised by the question.

"What you mean?"

"Don't tell me you don't know what I'm talking about", the blond grinded.

The fencer took his glass back which he had put down a few seconds earlier.

"I dunno."

Sanji dryly put his cloth on the back of a chair and fixed his gaze on his.

"You're telling me you haven't noticed how weird you are?" he said ironically. "Somehow, that doesn't even surprise me!"

"What am I doing weird?"

"Your fight with Luffy earlier almost destroyed the island!"

The fencer calmly looked at him and Sanji cursed.

"You do nothing else but train all the time!" he continued exasperatedly. "You even went around the island to find these huge blocks of stone instead of... sleeping like an idiot!"

"What does that prove?" the swordsman asked.

"When you put it that way, it doesn't mean anything", the cook furiously admitted. "But... you're weird with me too!"

The latter raised an interrogative eyebrow, suggesting him to continue.

"How?"

Sanji suddenly bit his lip before taking a short breath, slightly embarrassed.

"It's like you keep me at a distance or something", he grumbled. "You pretend everything's normal, but I know it isn't. I can't explain it, that's all."

Zoro just stared at him in silence as if to make him realize that what he was producing as evidence rather testified to his wild imagination.

"If that's what you call being weird, I think you're the one with the problem", he finally said.

Sanji gritted his teeth before angrily picking up his cloth. Obviously, explained this way, these facts weren't proving anything other than a kind of paranoia from him.

Deciding to change strategy, he tried to calm down.

"Look, I ask you to be serious for a minute", he went on more quietly. "You think I'm wrong, but you won't get out of my mind that you're behaving strangely. At least with me."

The blond then fixed his gaze on his and Zoro returned it without blinking.

"I want to know. Did I do something?"

The fencer frowned for a second before shaking his head.

"No."

Sanji seemed to probe the sincerity of his partner for a few moments before slowly straightening.

"Okay, I believe you."

As he turned to his sink, the swordsman put down his empty glass and got up in the direction of the exit.

As soon as the door was closed, the blond quickly finished shucking his oysters. He was feeling mixed. On the one hand, he wasn't sure he was completely satisfied with the turn of their conversation but on the other hand, Zoro had assured him he had done nothing wrong and he knew enough about the fencer to be sure this one didn't bother to pretend on this subject or even another one. Zoro just couldn't downplay or embellish his own speeches. He said what he thought and didn't weigh himself down with details or roundabout means to spare his interlocutor.

Sanji therefore decided to appreciate his answers for what they were and he grabbed his last seafood to place it on the trays.

After lunch in the shade of the coconut palms, the marmots had led Luffy and Chopper towards the interior of the island while their friends were enjoying the beach. The rest of the music group then decided to meet and each worked his instrument in groups of two or three. Brook had indeed written scores to combine some instruments and Sanji immediately suggested practicing a duet to Robin. They had the choice between several compositions and they started with a playful and light rhythm while Nami was studying their next destination and Zoro was lifting his weights.

After two good hours of work, the budding musicians finally decided to relax and Sanji and Franky rushed towards the ocean to enjoy its coolness while Usopp was working on one of his inventions. A little further, Robin and Nami put up their deckchairs in the sun and lastly, Brook and Zoro got into meditation a few steps away. The soft and warm air was particularly pleasant and after the racket of the meal and the one of the instruments, the peaceful atmosphere was welcome.

Almost an hour later however, this peace and quiet was disturbed by a noise of running and chuckles unmistakable.

"Nami!"

The young woman sighed in her deckchair before seeing Luffy and Chopper come in her direction at full speed and smiling from ear to ear, surrounded by the colony of small marmots.

"What is it?" she somberly asked.

"Look!"

The navigator took off her sunglasses and leaned toward the captain's straw hat which he was carrying against him to show her something inside. She then gasped in surprise.

"Oh, my God. Oh, my God!"

At her cries, her crewmates hastened to join her, curious to see what Luffy had brought.

"Where did you find this?" Sanji asked, wide-eyes.

"It's the marmots!" Luffy explained with a big smile, pointing to them.

"To create their holes, they dig the earth and this is how they collected it everywhere!" Chopper clarified with delight. "There are rocky deposits in the middle of the island!"

"That's right, we saw it this morning", Robin agreed.

"They don't know what to do with it so they wanted to give them to Luffy in thanks for what he did!" the little reindeer finished, laughing.

"Are they real?" Zoro wanted to know.

"They look real, but they will have to be shown to a specialist", the archaeologist agreed, examining it.

"Who would have thought this island has gemstones!" Usopp exclaimed.

Nami grabbed a stone and watched the sunlight split inside, creating a multitude of blue reflections.

"They're magnificent", she was delighted. "Are you sure you took everything?" she then asked the captain.

"They gave us everything in their hiding place", Chopper replied while Luffy shrugged.

The navigator nodded with satisfaction and Brook searched through the hat.

"This isn't just gemstones", he noted. "There are also fine stones and organic gems."

"That's really super!" Franky got enthusiastic. "Thank you, groundhogs!" he added, turning to them for a spectacular pose that the small mammals watched with amazement before trying to imitate him in the midst of the crew's laughter.

Everyone admired the multicolored vividness of the stones for many minutes before returning them to the navigator so that she could keep them in a safe place until she could have them examined. Nami therefore went to her cabin and as she was opening her trunk to put her new treasure down, she heard footsteps coming in her direction.

She turned to the door and was surprised to find that Luffy had followed her.

"Do you have other stones?" she asked immediately, her eyes bright with excitement.

"I got one but it's special", he replied, searching in his pocket.

"Special?" Nami wondered. "What do you mean?"

The redhead approached and Luffy handed her a huge red stone shining brightly. Nami opened her eyes wide and took the stone to examine it.

"This one is for you", the captain added.

Nami brutally looked up at the straw hat boy who was smiling at her from ear to ear.

"F-For me?" she stuttered. "Why?"

"It was the biggest so I decided it would be your gift!" he calmly asserted.

The young woman stared at him even more.

"I... This is..."

She looked again at the stone between her fingers. It was about ten centimeters long and its glowing reflections suggested that it was a ruby.

"This is beautiful, Luffy", she finally whispered before looking up at him.

"It's because I thought of you!" the captain got enthused, delighted to see that his intention was touching the young woman.

Nami then had a sparkling smile of mischief before throwing herself in his arms, wild with joy.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you!"

Luffy laughed as he hugged her back and Nami kissed him passionately before freeing herself from his captain's arms to admire her stone again. The straw hat boy had softened considerably in front of the navigator's ardors towards him and a blissful smile was adorning his lips. She, on the other hand, seemed now ready to conquer the world.

"I'm gonna negotiate this jewel at an unprecedented price! You'll see, berries will rain on the Sunny pretty soon and I'd take the opportunity to buy myself new inks, new drawing papers, new dresses, new shoes, ..."

The captain automatically approved her words, still elsewhere, and Nami continued to drone out the list of her next purchases with unwavering determination.

On the beach, the rest of the crew had resumed their activities and the marmots had taken advantage of the new low tide to reach the strip of sand uncovered where they found the best food. Seeing them playing in the water a few hundred meters away, Sanji called out to the swordsman who was walking in front of him. All the positive energy of the afternoon made him want to exert himself.

"There must be a lot of crustaceans over there", he showed him.

"Maybe", the fencer replied, shrugging his shoulders.

"I bet I swim faster than you to the barrier reef", the cook then provoked him, a predatory smile on his lips.

"If you say so."

Zoro straightened his swords to his waist and was about to continue his way on the sand.

"You refuse to pit yourself against me, Marimo-kun? Are you afraid?" Sanji called to him, amused.

"No, I just don't have time for this. I need to be somewhere else."

The cook slowly lost his smile when he noticed that Zoro was indeed walking past him without intending to take up his challenge.

The blond then followed him with his eyes as he was walking away, his eyes vibrant of anger. The swordsman didn't respond to his provocation when, even in the worst situations and for the most insignificant absurdities, he usually never backed down.

Sanji felt his heart painfully constrict. Zoro had assured him a few hours earlier that nothing had changed but he was now certain it had. There were too many elements to make this a mere coincidence. Even if he didn't want to believe it, he had to face the facts. It didn't matter that Zoro had told him he had nothing to do with it. Something was wrong with the fencer and he didn't know what it was.

Sanji had settled on the leafy deck of the Sunny so as not to disturb the rest of his crewmates. Dinner had taken place in a cheerful atmosphere. Nami was in a good mood and she had offered to all her friends to make a list of what they wanted to buy on the next island. The evening had continued with singings and laughter but soon enough, sleep had caught up with them after all that emotion and everyone had fallen asleep on the beach by the fireside.

Everyone except the cook who couldn't sleep. So he had gone to get his double bass to rehearse one of Brook's compositions.

"You changed the score", the soft voice of Robin suddenly said behind him.

The blond brutally turned, worried.

"Did I wake you up, Robin-chan? I'm so sorry!" he sincerely apologized.

"It's all right. Air is so peaceful and quiet out here, I like to enjoy it."

Sanji nodded but didn't dare to start playing again in the archaeologist presence and she stayed still by his side.

"Why this tune of melancholy?" she asked him after a few moments of silence.

The cook tensed up imperceptibly before shaking his head.

"I don't know, it seemed appropriate to me at the time... But don't worry, we can continue on the score we played earlier", he assured her.

The young woman didn't answer and Sanji wondered if he had disappointed her. He was about to speak again to apologize once more when she put a hand on his shoulder.

"Music often expresses our deepest feelings. I hope you find peace of mind before long."

With these words, she quietly turned away and melted into the night to join their friends. For his part, Sanji remained frozen for a few seconds before setting eyes on his bow, bringing it up to eye level to better gaze at it. The beautiful archaeologist knew how to note and put together the smallest details, as usual, and the cook gritted his teeth. Deep down, he certainly still wanted to believe that his impressions were wrong about the fencer. However, bitterness was coming over him to the rhythm of the trouble that was spreading in him.

He didn't know what to do with the latest events. Should he ignore it or put his partner face to face with his contradictions? Where had those last weeks of happiness gone during which he had felt so good in his presence?

Sanji sighed and slowly let his arm drop to his side. Nothing had really changed and yet, everything was different.

Uncertainty really is one of the worst tortures in a relationship in my opinion.

I wanted to increase the gap between Zoro and Sanji but also between them and the rest of the crew, such as Nami and Luffy who share real moments of happiness.

Where does this lead them? You'll know it in the next chapter...