Darkness on the Horizon
V: Mirror Mirror On The Wall…
Written by Takato Metallium
Plot: AU, dark, slash (Luffy/Zoro and Sanji/Usopp, mentions of Luffy/Usopp), mentions of rape, one-shot. Sanji muses late at night…
Disclaimer: I disclaim all rights to One Piece, as it belongs to Eiichiro Oda-san. If I owned OP, Sanji and Usopp (not to mention Zoro and Luffy) would've had sex already. 'Fraid not, kiddies. I only own the fanfic, the idea and not much else.
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The lower decking of the Going Merry was filled with quiet snores and low mumbles, unused hammocks rocking gently with the waves. Two children occupied one of them – one a small young girl with shoulder-length green hair who snuggled closer to her blonde companion as he wrapped a protective arm around her. She turned on her side, resting her head on his chest as she tried to get comfortable and resume sleep.

In the room adjacent to the lower decking, behind closed doors, Sanji unknowingly mimicked his son's actions and wrapped an arm around Usopp's shoulders, raising a hand to his lips after taking a long drag of his cigarette as he pulled the marksman's naked body slightly closer, as though being reassured of his presence. The chef stared at the ceiling, glazed blue eyes unblinking before he lowered them to the cigarette between his fingers, twirling it slightly before replacing it back into his mouth with a deep sigh.

As Usopp buried his head into the crook of his armpit and continued to snore with the peaceful sound of the water crashing against the boat, Sanji spared a quick glance to the full-length mirror occupying his side of the bedroom, brows furrowing in confusion as he spotted a man he didn't like in there.

Over the course of the last nine years, he had changed much from the womanizing young man he used to be. After Luffy had ordered him to destroy All Blue eight and a half years previous, he had found himself teetering on the edge of loosing his sanity with Usopp as his only balance. He had lost all enthusiasm towards both women and cooking once his beloved, sought-after ocean had been turned into a wasteland by his own hand, instead spending his days in the galley catering for the crew without the rhythm he used to have and spending his nights curled up next to a man he knew belonged to his captain.

And then…Luffy had made his offer. Nami's body in exchange for Usopp's hand, one night each week for the next two months. His plan was to impregnate her with their children; the next generation of Mugiwaras; and Sanji had felt his mouth grow dry – one night a week for two months with the woman he had often dreamed about since meeting her long ago on the Baratie?

A sigh escaped his lips as he remembered the feeling and pulled the cigarette from between his lips once more, closing his eyes as he tilted his head back against the pillow. Buried in that wonderful, gorgeous body, slick with sweat as he held her down and watched her writhe beneath his grasp, ignorant to her muffled cries. Nami's well-being and comfort hadn't mattered; all that mattered was that he was finally, finally…

She barely spoke to him now, if not a few quiet words or shouts of warning in battle. Indeed, a part of him could see the reason why she wouldn't, a rational part that hadn't been lost to the insanity his captain had begun. The rational part was hiding now; hiding as it would during a fight with marines or a rival pirate group.

Sanji eyed the man in the mirror, snuffing out his cigarette into the ashtray residing on the bedside table, gently lifting his arm out from underneath Usopp's head and letting it drop to the mattress softly as the bed squeaked under his weight. He released the groaning divan of his presence, padding his way over towards the mirror slowly as he stumbled ever so slightly.

As he approached the mirror, his eyes landed on a pair of black leather shoes laying there, dyed with the blood of countless people. He smirked lightly, fumbling around on the dresser next to the mirror for his cigarettes – he really had earned Zeff's infamous nickname, as the Marines and various others had taken to calling him 'Red Shoes' Sanji. The battles were so numerous now that he didn't even bother to wash the blood from them these days, figuring it was just a waste of time. The blood of many men, women, children, Marines and pirates lay caked on the expensive leather, so thick you could hardly see any black anymore.

As a shaking hand lit the cigarette now adorning his mouth, he raised his eyes from the floor to the mirror, dropping the match as though it still burned down on his fingertips. No; he decided he didn't like the man in the mirror at all as he lifted a hand to blow smoke out from between his lips.

The man in the mirror mocked him with a cold, cruel smile mimicking his captain's, standing lazily to one side with a hand to his hip and the other hanging down limply as though the bones throughout the limb were broken. Fierce blue eyes looked at him from his reflection, narrowed to the point of cat-like slits. The man's body – he realized, completely horrified – was coated in fresh blood, dripping from every angle, every dip and curve, matting perfect blonde hair with red streaks and thick clumps.

The man in the mirror smiled and licked his lips delicately, just a quick flick of his tongue, before his voice – Sanji's voice albeit a little darker – sounded over the deafening silence, and Sanji recoiled ever so slightly. "Restless tonight, are we?" he purred, his smile parting to reveal perfect white teeth. "I knew you'd come back to talk to me."

"Shut up," Sanji hissed, one hand sloppily gripping the knob carved into the top of the mirror's stand. His eyes blinked blearily from the lack of sleep, scowling at the man in the mirror, his other hand fumbling for his cigarette. "Don't talk to me."

The other laughed quietly in amusement, crossing his arms as he seemed to not be bothered by the blood dripping down his form, as though it wasn't there at all. "You know what would make you feel better," he purred, brushing a stray hand through his crimson-streaked hair, eyes alit with devious thoughts. "Another night…another night with her trembling, naked, begging beneath you." The man spared a quick glance over Sanji's shoulder at the sleeping form of the marksman in his bed and the cook followed his gaze unwillingly. "He's just not cutting it, is he? It's not the same as the feeling of a woman pleading you to let her go…"

"Shut up." Sanji's hiss was feral and the cigarette fell from his fingertips to the floor as he groped for and clutched at his ears, squeezing his eyes shut, hoping that when he opened them the man wouldn't be there in the mirror. "Shut up. I'm not listening to you anymore."

The other's laughter became wilder and Sanji opened his eyes, releasing a shuddering breath as his fingers grasped clumsily at his ears, trying to close them. "But I'm a part of you, Sanji-kun," he whispered sweetly, using the voice he himself had often used to on women. "I can't be killed, and I can't be silenced. I'm that part of you that won't go away, no matter how much you wish I would. I'm your unfulfilled fantasies; your hopes; your dreams…your darkest desires…"

Tears began falling down Sanji's pale cheeks one by one as he fell to his knees, shaking his head as he tried to block out the man's voice… But he couldn't. The laughter rolled around in his mind as he clutched at his skull, fingernails digging in enough to draw blood as he put his head between his knees and cried.

Cried for what he had done to Nami; for what he was doing to Usopp; cried for all he had massacred under the order of his captain…

But most of all, he cried for himself – the Sanji that didn't exist anymore.

The man in the mirror smiled and turned away, walking back towards the bed. He smirked darkly down at the sleeping form of the ship's sniper, leaning down to crawl onto the bed and over towards him, sitting on his knees.

Usopp was woken by the gentle turning of his head, by the small flick of a tongue across his skin to collect the slight drool that had rolled down his chin. He blinked back sleep and responded, parting his mouth as Sanji delved in, one hand cradling the back of his head as he wrapped tired arms around smooth shoulders. The chef smiled as he pulled away, lifting his other hand to run it through his husband's curls. He leaned down again, capturing Usopp's lips a second time, slightly rougher this time rather than the last, bringing the hand behind him to his front where he trailed it enticingly down tanned skin, digging his nails into the uncovered abdomen and feeling Usopp shiver and gasp and curl up into his arms…

The pathetic creature in the mirror faded now that he wasn't looking at it anymore, the soft glow of the unfinished cigarette their only light before it snuffed itself out, leaving them in darkness.

Darkness like what lay in Sanji's mind.

– Fin –

Next: Darkness on the Horizon VI – The Harsh Truth