"I don't get it," Lucy whines when Nami finishes the story. Sanji's letter sits wrinkled in her palms, the characters hastily, sloppily written. It's unlike her cook, who prefers everything neat and orderly and whose script is like print. "He just…left? He didn't blow up their ship or nothin'?"
Nami shakes her head, eyes watering again. She's leaning against the back of the couch, too tense to sit properly. Her right hand runs over the scars beneath her tattoo in the same habitual, comforting way Zoro rests a palm on Wado's hilt, or Brook touches his hair. A reassurance. A stabilizer. A reminder of what they've already survived, and of where they have to go.
Wendy and the other Minks ushered them here, all graciousness and affection Lucy had welcomed but hadn't understood until Nami and the others sat them down to explain. The room looks like it's been carved out of the tree trunk, with mustard-colored walls and blue-green furniture. Lucy's sitting cross-legged on a wooden table, her back to the door. Zoro is behind her, standing guard, and the rest of her crew is scattered in tight clusters across the room.
They're all crowding close together, craving contact. Usopp and Franky and Brook are all shoulder-to shoulder on the couch. Robin leans against the wall on the far side, with Chopper in her arms. Nami's shoulders brush Franky's knees. Zoro leans into Lucy's back every once in a while.
Sanji's absence is conspicuous.
She doesn't like it.
"Sanji-san threw us to safety with the note, I'm afraid," Brook continues. His voice is soft and sad and shamed as he plucks the strings of his guitar half-heartedly. "Capone-san's body sealed up not long after that.
In Robin's careful hold, Chopper sniffs as big, salty reindeer tears roll down his cheeks. "He just—he just left," Chopper warbles. "He had a chance to get out, but instead he—he—"
No one finishes the sentence. Robin changes the subject instead.
"You're sure they said Vinsmoke?" Robin asks, directing the question to Brook. The skeleton hums quietly in affirmation.
"I suppose you would recognize the name as well, Robin-san," Brook replies, his voice as quiet and soothing as ever despite the difficult topics. "I worked for a time in the court of Sanji's, oh, great-grandfather, probably. I became a pirate soon after."
Franky picks up on Brook's tone, giving a low whistle. "That bad?" Brook doesn't answer.
"The Vinsmokes are a well-known family throughout the world, though they've been on a steady decline for the last century or so. At the height of the family's power, they ruled all of North Blue. Now, Vinsmoke Judge reigns over a floating kingdom, acting mostly as a mercenary and weapons developer," Robin reports. There's a look of vague distaste on her face. "I considered working with him, before. He is…an odious man. I imagine being his son would be difficult."
"I don't care about any of that," Lucy states bluntly, still glaring at the letter. "I wanna know why Sanji went off without us. We'll help him beat up Big Mom or his dad or whoever. He knows that!"
It's so…strange, too. Downright odd, even, because Lucy's always been pretty aware don't fuck with me is written into the very fabric of Sanji's soul. It's why she liked him so much, back on the restaurant. He just wanted to feed people and flirt and dream about All Blue even when everyone else said it couldn't exist.
Plus, this is the same guy who clawed his way onto a speeding ocean train in the middle of a tsunami because he knew one of his nakama was in danger. And also, he once berated Zoro for two days straight because of an imagined slight toward Nami. Sanji is nothing if not tenacious, and it's weird that he'd just…leave like that. Without saying anything important in the note. Without explaining things to Nami and Brook and Chopper.
"Let me see the note," Zoro demands gruffly. It's the first time he's spoken since they discovered Sanji is missing, excepting a soft greeting for a weepy Chopper. Lucy hands him the note. She has it memorized by now anyway. It isn't long.
My friends,
I have some things to take care of, but I'll be back. Maybe I'll even take on Big Mom for you. Please don't worry, Lucy-san. See you in Wano.
Sanji
No horrible flirting. No dramatic oaths or declarations or over-the-top threats to the guys to keep her and Nami and Robin safe. No instructions about the kitchen or the food stores, or regretful begging to keep Lucy out of them.
Zoro frowns at the paper for far longer than it could have possibly taken to read it. He hands it back to Lucy without saying anything.
"Does he…" It sounds weird to say, but it is Sanji they're talking about. "Does he want to marry this girl?"
Nami shakes her head, long red curls bouncing across her back. "He outright said he didn't want to more than once. It wasn't until…" Nami trails off, her eyebrows furrowing in consternation.
"What is it?" Usopp asks. Hesitantly, like he isn't sure he wants to know.
"Bege's number two whispered something in his ear," Nami says slowly, taking special care with the words. "Whatever he said…after that, Sanji-kun looked scared. Really scared."
Lucy frowns at the note harder, resisting the urge to punch something. She wants her nakama back, dammit. She wants Sanji to make her food and bicker with Zoro and flirt really aggressively with Nami and talk about different foods around the world with Robin and she wants him back.
She should probably punch Big Mom, right? It sounds like she's the one responsible. Lucy has a feeling her nakama won't like that very much, but she's pretty sure that'll make most of their current problems go away.
"Well we should go to his wedding anyway," Lucy hums with no small amount of consternation, scratching the back of her head. "We can ask him then."
There's a beat where she can almost hear her nakama processing, where Lucy feels determination solidifying, and then a chorus of voices echo around her in discordant shock.
"We should what?"
"Think about it, Aneki—"
"That is the stupidest—"
Lucy ignores their vaguely hysteric protests and frowns at the curved walls of the pineapple-shaped Mink house.
This whole thing reeks of blackmail and manipulation. Bringing up Sanji's family and engaging him to some girl he's never met—all of that seems really…gross. Dark and twisted in a way Lucy can't put her finger on.
And yet…and yet…would Sanji have really…?
"We should go on without him."
The room drops to dead silence, the cacophony of voices trying to convince Lucy that confronting Big Mom and fetching Sanji at his own wedding was a bad idea cutting off in choked shock. Lucy turns slightly, looking up at her swordsman in surprise.
Zoro stands behind her, shoulders hunched inward and his arms crossed as he scowls at nothing in particular. The set of his mouth is stubborn, and his eye flashes gunmetal grey. She'd almost call him defensive if she couldn't see the muscle twitching in his jaw and the fine trembling of his fists.
He's angry. Lucy's not entirely sure who it's directed toward. Sanji maybe. Big Mom, possibly. Hell it could be Lucy, for wanting to go after him.
"We don't need him anyway. We should just—"
A blur of sunset-red and purple strides across the room, and Nami cracks her palm across Zoro's face.
Lucy's nakama gasp as one. The air sparks with tension. Zoro doesn't move, just glares right back at Nami without moving a muscle, his arms still crossed over his chest. Nami's body is an aggressive arch from her toes to the roots of her hair. She's trembling like she wants to hit Zoro and never stop.
"You're glad, aren't you?" Nami seethes, rage coating her voice like she's been waiting for an opportunity to let it out. "You're glad he's gone, because you never liked him! You never wanted him around! You worried about him and Lucy, and you hated him because you felt threatened, were worried he was stronger than you, and—"
"Nami."
Lucy's voice is stern and low, uncompromising. Nami's mouth clicks shut, instinctively obeying even as her chest heaves in barely-restrained passion.
"Go help Wanda," Lucy orders, voice still low and powerful and intractable in a way it rarely is toward her crew. "Find out if Pekoms is awake."
Nami doesn't move for a moment. She trembles instead, a rare kind of rage surging through her, and Lucy is inexplicably reminded of that day long ago in Arlong Park where Nami screamed that she didn't want help, that she could do it on her own. The Nami standing before her now is much closer to that girl than she's been in a long time.
"You didn't see him," Nami whispers finally, her eyes fever-bright. "He was—you didn't see him."
But before anyone can respond, Nami turns on her heel and strides stiff-backed and firm to the door. She doesn't quite close it hard enough to slam, and the clip-clop of her sandals disappears within a few strides.
"Chopper," Lucy calls, and the little reindeer who had been making his tentative way over to Zoro jumps a little. Lucy smiles at him reassuringly, trying to calm the terror in his eyes. "Can you help her ask around?"
There's more than one kind of healing, after all. And Chopper is a really good shoulder to cry on.
Thankfully, her doctor seems to get it. After a moment's hesitation and a glance at Zoro—whose face is starting to bloom bright red, but otherwise seems unfazed—the reindeer nods determinedly and wipes his tears. His hooves clop a little louder against the dry wood of the deck than Nami's heels, but they too disappear quickly.
Lucy looks at her first mate, eyebrow raised in question.
Zoro stares back, vaguely defiant, his mouth twisted in the same angry scowl.
Nami is fast, and faster when she's pissed, but Zoro could have caught her wrist if he wanted to. Could have dodged or triggered his Armament and maybe shattered all the bones in her hand if he wanted to be a real bastard about it, but instead he let her hit him. Nami'll realize that on her own, eventually. And then she'll regret what she just said, because Nami knows that Zoro and Sanji are friends in their own machismo, dysfunctional way, that they'd die stupidly brave deaths for one another in a heartbeat, that the animosity is mostly habit by now, rather than the product of any real sort of malice.
Nami knows all that. And she knows that accusing Zoro of disloyalty and conspiracy is tantamount to calling the very sea barren, or the heavens empty. And she's going to feel really bad when she remembers.
At least Zoro's unlikely to hold Nami's reaction against her. Zoro's very aware that he can be a complete bastard sometimes.
And Zoro does not want to talk about it, if the scowl is anything to go by. Maybe Lucy should push him to, but it's likely to be counterproductive with the rest of the crew here. She kind of doubts he'd want to discuss it even if it was just the two of them. The best she can hope for is that he'll stop putting his hackles up long enough for her to check on him later.
If she was just his girlfriend, she'd do that now. But she's not. She's his captain, and she needs to know what the hell he meant earlier.
He knows her well enough to start explaining unprompted.
"The cook's coming back. He said so," he gestures to the note as he crosses his arms, looking frustrated. "It's not like he doesn't have a plan."
Which is exactly what Lucy was thinking about earlier. Sanji is almost as neurotic about having a plan as Nami is about money or Franky about Sunny's cola supply. He makes five-step strategies to go grocery shopping half the time. Granted, cooking for the crew and around everyone's dietary needs is complicated, but still.
Going into Big Mom's territory without a plan? Without even trying to get away?
It's strange. Lucy doesn't like it, because she trusts Sanji—absolutely and completely trusts him—but she knows a thing or two about suddenly being faced with impossible choices, especially when family is involved. She knows that if Sanji was scared about something, then it means he probably wasn't thinking straight.
Walking into an Emperor's territory alone probably isn't quite as crazy as sneaking into the strongest prison in the world, but the principle is probably the same.
"Doesn't mean it's a good plan," Usopp grumbles. He's eyeing Zoro with a wary sort of concern, but his thoughts are close to her own thinking and so Lucy frowns a little harder.
"And," Zoro continues, heedless of the comment, "We can't ignore Kaido any longer."
Franky makes a quiet, displeased noise that might be agreement. Robin's eyes sharpen.
"Zoro-san?" Brook asks, a little hesitant.
"Back on Punk Hazard, Kaido was the endgame. He's why we've been carting Caesar around and why we went to Dressrosa in the first place." Lucy kind of thought they went to Dressrosa because Torao had some kind of suicidal death wish to kill 'Mingo, but hey, she's been wrong before. "We've been pissing him off since we came to the New World. And Lucy picked a fight with Big Mom before that."
"She was gonna destroy Fishman Island over candy," Lucy objects, a little sullen. "It was stupid. She's stupid."
Usopp groans. Robin huffs in a way that might have been a laugh, under different circumstances. It breaks up a little of the tension in the room.
"We can't have two Emperors after us," Zoro finishes, now gazing hard at Lucy. "And we've done more than just declared war against Kaido. We've landed the first assault and won."
Lucy hates it when Zoro does this. Well, kind of. She's usually grateful later. But in the moment she hates it, because Zoro only steps in like this when he feels like she might make a mistake. When being the captain is the hardest. And he's always, always right.
"The whole marriage thing is…weird," Lucy counters. She can't refute anything he's said. "And his family…" Zoro's eyebrow arches in surprise, and the rest of her nakama follow suit. Lucy supposes it is pretty weird for her to care about anyone's family circumstances—she doesn't, not even Sanji's, not even when she has a weird feeling about Sanji never mentioning them before, but— "D'you think he wants to go back to them?"
She directs the question to Brook, who plucks a morose string on the guitar as he shakes his head. "Most emphatically not, Lucy-san."
Lucy feels the shadow of something dark and protective twist in her gut, solidifying just a little more. If Sanji doesn't want to leave them, that means he's being manipulated, plan or not. No matter how strong he is or how clever, he's still starting from a disadvantage. And without Lucy and the rest of their nakama around to back him up, he's outgunned and outmanned in enemy territory.
If there's one thing she's always promised her nakama, it's that she'll always stand between them and chains, no matter what form their bonds take. They do the same for her. And she can't help but feel like Sanji's walking back into a cage he once escaped so thoroughly he never saw fit to tell them about it.
It pisses her off—at Sanji, and at those who would try and jail him both.
She wants to ask him what the hell he's thinking, charging off alone. And she has a sinking feeling that something is wrong, that he's not in his right mind, that this is like Sabo coming back from the dead but bad, somehow. She doesn't understand—can't, really—but she wants to.
All they can do is go and ask.
But Zoro's not wrong, either. Kaido is a problem. And Lucy vehemently dislikes the idea of letting someone get the drop on her crew the same way the Big Mom Pirates just did.
They could just…take care of Sanji and pick him up quickly. And then run to Wano. She wouldn't get to beat up Big Mom that way, but at least she'd be able to ensure her nakama's safety.
Or she could…she could…
No. She's not…she's not doing that. She's so, so close to having them back together again.
Lucy looks at the note. The characters of Sanji's name are shaky. Rushed. There's a smudge of cigarette ash in the corner.
"Zoro's right," Lucy says slowly. Usopp and Brook both make quiet, distressed protests that are probably unconscious. "But I still wanna talk to Sanji."
Zoro scowls at her, clearly irritated. Lucy ignores it, standing to head for the door. She has to talk to Pekoms. And Nami. Especially Nami.
"C'mon. I want to explore," She hums cheerfully. She doesn't need Haki to sense the uncertain looks her nakama exchange behind her back.
It's okay. She only has half a plan right now. Mostly she just has fire burning in her blood and boiling rage just under her skin because someone took her nakama and made him scared enough to nearly misspell his own name.
Lucy's going to make them pay for that.
Lucy strides determinedly out the door. It only takes a moment for the rest of them to follow.
The forest is dense outside the little cluster of pineapple buildings, and the elephant's spongy skin leaves no tracks, so Lucy starts her search for Nami and Chopper by more or less following instinct and her nose. She's semi-successful, but she only figures out how to navigate the thick copse of trees and brush when Wanda gives her a significant glance and a nod to a narrow path between two houses.
Lucy thanks her with a wave and turns, her shoulders back and her hands in her pockets, posture easy.
The path winds for only a minute or two between the makeshift buildings before emptying into a small clearing. Nami and Chopper sit at the far end of it. Lucy takes her hands out of her pockets and strides forward, neither quick nor slow. Neither of them seems to notice her.
When she gets a little closer it becomes clear that Nami hasn't fully cycled through her anger. She's trembling, forehead on her knees, and Chopper's expression is dismayed and uncertain. Lucy's sandals squish obnoxiously in Zou's flesh, and Nami's shoulders tense when she recognizes her gait.
Nami raises her head, eyes defiant. She's not shaking anymore, her frame rigid like she's gearing up for a fight. Chopper whines softly, distressed.
Lucy would say something, normally, or send him off to do something else or just smile so he didn't feel so unnerved. But she can't at the moment, because Nami is too important, too angry, too stubborn to see she's pushing away people who only want to help.
Lucy's pins her gaze to Nami's, mouth firm and hands at her sides, and doesn't speak a word.
It takes a while, but Nami looks away first, and her shoulders hunch close around her ears.
"I'm not apologizing. Zoro doesn't have to be so mean when Sanji-kun's not even here." Nami's face fractures just a little.
Lucy says nothing.
"Sanji-kun was scared. He was so scared and we couldn't help him. If I'd been like—if we had you or Zoro it would have—I could have—" She cuts herself off, biting her lip.
"Sanji-kun doesn't get scared," Nami admits finally. "And he didn't want to leave. It was like—"
Sabaody, Lucy finishes in her head. It was like Sabaody.
Lucy doesn't forget, exactly, that the events at the archipelago are seared in all of their memories in different, equally traumatic ways. She can't forget when her crew has such a strong collective hang-up about separation, about teamwork. But sometimes it slips her mind. Sometimes she has to re-remember that her crew is just as protective of each other as she is of them, that shared trauma can have unexpected blowback.
She doesn't forget that Ace wasn't the first person she failed, back then. She can't. But the reminders hurt sometimes, catch her when she's least expecting it.
"And then that brute," Nami hisses. Her eyes flash and she leaps to her feet as her earlier rage rises. She's taller than Lucy but her temper makes her movements erratic. "Has the gall to say we should just—just—just leave him? When he's—he's scared and alone and—"
Tears wobble down Nami's cheeks and accusation rises in her eyes, in the finger she points at Lucy's chest and then thrusts toward the trees. "And don't defend him just because he's your—because you guys are—" Nami catches herself, but half the insinuation is out already and it makes Lucy's mouth tighten, displeased.
Nami deflates immediately, and she hides her teary, red-splotched face in her arm.
"I—Sorry. I'm sorry. I know you don't—" She gulps harshly, like she can't get enough air. "And I know Zoro isn't—that it's Sanji-kun and they're stupid, and—"
Lucy glances at Chopper, gaze softening when she sees him tearing up too. She cocks her chin to Nami, and the little reindeer takes the hint. Nami catches him, startled, when he throws himself around her waist. It takes a moment for her to regain her bearings, but then she curls around Chopper's fluffy little reindeer body, and cries in earnest. She sinks slowly to her knees, half-turned away from Lucy like she's embarrassed.
She should be. Not because she's crying. Not because she's scared for Sanji or angry at her perceived inability to protect him. She should be embarrassed for believing her nakama wouldn't care the same way she does. She should be embarrassed, just a little, for lashing out like she did, for not trusting Zoro to have his reasons, even if his presentation could be a little more polished, even if Lucy's still not entirely clear on why he's so willing to let Sanji fend for himself. It's still Zoro, either way. He's still their nakama.
The only thing Nami has to be ashamed of is forgetting that.
She must have been scared too—her and Brook and Chopper—seeing Sanji taken like that.
Lucy eases her gaze, just a little, even as she feels determination burn hotter in her gut.
The straw hat slides home over Nami's hair easily, the brim plenty wide to accommodate the pretty beads. Lucy leaves her hand on the crown of Nami's head, and lets her palm be heavy, firm. Her navigator looks up at her, shock in her face.
"Lucy…?"
"If you think you're weak, get stronger," Lucy demands. Nami's eyes are red and her chin wobbles. Lucy lets a small smile loose in response. "And trust your nakama to do the rest."
Nami's breath hitches, and her arms curl around Chopper just a bit tighter, like she's afraid to let go. The reindeer doesn't seem to mind, not even when she presses her face to his hat and wails.
Lucy backs off. Nami's never been weak. No one on her crew is weak. It wasn't Nami's fault that Lucy and Zoro weren't around to help Sanji. That's on Lucy, and her decisions, and it sounds like Sanji went peacefully besides.
(Whether he was willing, though, is another matter entirely, and the hot pit in her gut curls tighter and more brilliant at the thought.)
But if Nami wants to increase her firepower? If she wants to be better able to protect herself and her nakama? Lucy's not going to stop her. Just so long as she doesn't stop trusting them, relying on the crew in turn.
She'll get her hat back when apologies have been made, when the plan is settled a little more firmly and doesn't taste like ash on Lucy's tongue. Until then…
Well. That hat has always been pretty good at hiding tears.
She's maybe not terribly subtle when she pulls Zoro away from the group just before they get on the alligator-rhino things, but no one bats an eyelash at them. At the front of their little cohort, Nami rides with Wanda, Lucy's hat still on her head, and the others claim seats without much thought or care.
There's an undercurrent of uncertainty between them though, weight missing from the scale. Lucy notices it, and knows she must alleviate it soon, but she wants to extend the relative calm just a little longer, until she knows as much as she can know about Big Mom and the marriage she's forced upon her cook.
In the meantime, her swordsman has a bruise on his cheekbone and something heavy weighing on his brow.
She tugs him one step further into the trees, swinging their hands between them. He glares down at her, his whole body tense and radiating irritation. Lucy just grins at him, her smile toothy.
Zoro relaxes, if only a little. The scowl stays in place, and his eye still flashes in alert wariness at their surroundings, but his shoulders drop. His hand squeezes hers.
Lucy's just the teensiest bit amused at how easy that was. It's not like she's any better, really, but Zoro being naturally cranky makes it a little more obvious with him.
She lifts her free hand to his cheek, her thumb grazing the swelling bruise. It's not anywhere near the worst blow he's ever taken, and certainly not one Lucy is worried about beyond its implication for Zoro and Nami's friendship, but she inspects it all the same.
He'll probably put himself in a light meditation on the way to see Cat Viper. It'll be healed by the time they get there. Zoro would consider anything less petty, especially given how guilty Nami's going to feel once she calms down.
Lucy clicks her tongue softly when she's finished, her smile fading into a faint frown at the heat under her fingertips. "She got you good, huh?"
His scowl deepens. "No."
Lucy rolls her eyes. Zoro's gaze narrows just a bit, irritated. He doesn't look anywhere near guilty enough about gunning for low-hanging fruit.
"You," Lucy says after a moment, lips twitching against a smile. "Are such a drama queen."
Zoro looks downright offended, and Lucy laughs. The offense shifts to a glower.
Lucy just grins at him, undaunted, and sways into his space just a little, enough to press her lips to his blooming bruise, right where his scar bisects it. "You're a good friend, Zoro," she hums as she pulls back. Her voice is terribly fond when she says it.
He didn't have to let Nami hit him, probably only did it to make her feel better. And his worry is palpable to Lucy, even without Haki. It's present in the way he keeps tipping an ear to the rest of the crew, clearly audible behind the thin line of trees, and in the way he keeps reaching for Shusui whenever a branch in the forest breaks. Sanji's absence is affecting him just as much as it is the others, even if he's expressing it differently.
Zoro doesn't betray discomfort at the compliment, but he does look heavenward, like he can't believe he's stuck with her. She's grinning a little when she pokes him hard in the chest, and she doesn't quite pull off the scolding wag of her finger, oh well, she tried. "But it's not fair to tease Sanji when he's not here."
He scowls at her. Lucy rolls her eyes.
He's such a dumbass. It shouldn't be as endearing as it is.
But then Zoro's demeanor shifts, just a little. The playful grumpiness seeps away, and whatever he's been brooding on takes hold again. The hand that isn't holding hers finds Lucy's hip. His gaze catches her eyes, irises glinting silver.
There's something urgent in his face.
"We need to leave him be, Lucy."
Lucy searches his gaze for clues, for something to give her a hint on what's going through his head. Nothing.
She really wishes she could use Haki.
"…I know you're worried about him too," Lucy tells him, just a little bit bewildered. She feels her eyebrows pinch together in confusion, and his scowl turns into something just shy of grinding his teeth in frustration.
"The cook's fine, we need to—"
"There's something you're not saying," Lucy realizes. Zoro blinks in shock, tries to jerk back, but Lucy's hand is already curled around his neck and he only succeeds in pulling them closer together.
"Lucy, I—" He stops, and she feels a little bad for him because he's traveled through about fifteen shades of frustration in the last hour or so and this seems to be the worst iteration yet.
"You don't have to tell me," she reassures, because she wasn't accusing him of anything. Zoro's allowed to have secrets. "I trust you," she says simply, because she does.
He relaxes. It's closer to a deliberate uncoiling than a relieved slump, but eventually his forehead meets hers, their noses brushing with each soft exhalation.
Lucy's eyes close without her realizing. The hand at his neck slides down to curl in the fabric of his t-shirt, and she feels the steady rhythm of his heart beneath her palm.
Then Zoro takes a deep breath, a short inhale that indicates speech.
"I know," she interrupts, her eyes still closed. "I know. Just…" Her lips press to his, the movement soft and brief. It's more like an oath than a kiss, a promise to speak on the subject more, and soon. "Let's just talk to Pekoms."
Zoro hesitates for a moment, but then the hand at her hip pulls her closer and he straightens, both arms circling her torso, his right palm cradling her head. Lucy snakes her arms around his waist, content and relaxed as she presses into the space beneath his chin.
They don't speak, but his heartbeat is steady beneath her ear, and Zoro's breathing slows as his fingers sweep slowly through her hair. It's enough.
The plan taking shape in her head makes her stomach clench unpleasantly in the face of it.
The others enter the infirmary eagerly, sharing speculation and ideas in rapid-fire succession amongst themselves. Lucy is the first one through the door, shouting for Pekoms and Cat Viper, and Zoro hears something crash about three seconds after she disappears inside. The others exchange fond glances and follow with only marginally less enthusiasm.
Zoro rests his katana by the doorframe, and parks himself on the bench built into it. The fit is a little close, but there's just enough room to settle into a seiza. Habit has him reaching out with his Haki, and he pulls back with a wince.
Zou is loud. He doesn't know how the stronger Minks stand it. Even with his Haki closed off it's like a subsonic echo, intangible but always present. He's hoping meditation will make it easier to bear. He was mostly trying to heal himself on the way over here, but now…
His focus narrows on his blades, their disharmonious song ever-present and more distorted than usual. They sing and hum in the back of his mind, unconcerned with slotting together, indifferent to his comfort in the same way a blade is to the blood that soaks its edge.
He's been agitated since they arrived. That's probably made his katana worse.
That did not mean he was too harsh earlier though. He was just tellin' it like it is.
The blades' chorus rises in pitch and Zoro sinks into them, his focus deep and low.
Shusui thrums in thunderous pitch, the song a void so low it can't be heard. His chest rises and the blade groans with thick chords, an abyss like the emptiness between the stars, a gluttonous black hole, taking as much of Zoro as it can. Zoro breathes out, slow and deliberate. Shusui's song drops lower, inaudible except for the vibrating behind his sternum, throbbing like a heartbeat, inseparable from his own.
It's not his fault the cook was captured. It's not the sea witch's fault either, or Brook, or Chopper. It's the goddamn cook's, and they don't have time to wait for him to get his act together.
And it's not that Zoro wants to leave Sanji in the hands of Big Mom and his asshole family—Zoro is not one to miss out on opportunities to gloat, and rescuing that asshole would be a perfect opportunity—it's just that he's really, really certain that it's the opposite of where they need to go.
Stupid cook. Stupid cook and the cook's stupid family.
He knew Lucy taunting Big Mom like that would come back to bite them in the ass. Even if it was pretty hot at the time.
The white blade is like a ripple in flat water, discordant and spreading. Wado's ring is tinged in discontent, driven snow pockmarked by sleet. It's a reprimand, a scolding, a call of duty, of honor, a reminder of where his trajectory lies—onward, upward, until Mihawk is finally deposed, and Lucy is Pirate King, until his victories are lifted high and higher, up to heaven itself.
Wano's waiting for them. Kaido is waiting for them. If they don't go, they'll become the hunted, a band of unestablished pirates without a territory to call their own against an Emperor. They won't win unless they take the fight to him, unless they use surprise and the Emperor's expectations against him. Sidetracking to get the cook? Going against another emperor? They can't, especially since Sanji…Zoro read the letter. Sanji will be fine.
Kitetsus howls in eager bloodlust, the blade's ache nearly painful beside the other two, wild and thirsty like a scream scrapes throats raw. It's Kitetsu that feels the most off-kilter, the most agitated. Zoro tastes tangy copper on his tongue, the black rush of heat and darkness the blade can sense in his heart, and he lets it weep out and into Kitetsu's discordant harmonies, feels them flood together and grow into wailing symphony capped only by Zoro's careful control as thoughts of hot blood spilling over metal and the black black red of life sprayed against skin.
He's never sure if it's his own blood that Kitetsu craves, or their enemies'. Zoro suspects it's a bit of both.
Lucy won't want to leave Sanji to his own devices. The circumstances of his departure are too weird, and the crewmembers that witnessed it were too concerned, too upset. And the whole crew descending on Big Mom's territory…that's asking for trouble. That's like picking a fight with a hurricane when there's a tsunami on their heels.
There's a solution here, but it's…
"You've got a freaky aura, Roronoa-ya."
Zoro blinks out of the meditation, his connection with the blades loosening and returning to its normal thrum at the back of his head. It's several shades darker outside now, the torches in the yard the only means to see by. Law strides toward him, a polar bear and the entirety of his crew trailing behind him. They're loud and dressed in horrible jumpsuits, and most of them are eyeing Zoro warily.
But Law looks relaxed with them at his back, and calmer than he thought the guy capable of. Zoro figures a crew's a crew, even if their captain is a crabby emo bastard. He grunts in greeting.
"The others inside?" Law asks, nodding toward the building. Zoro unfolds from his seiza and stands, fixing his katana at his hip. The bruise must be gone already, or Law would have commented on it.
"Yeah," Zoro says, rolling his shoulders. "They'll probably be out soon." He can't imagine Lucy staying still much longer than that. Law's crew relaxes as their captain edges closer, undaunted by Zoro's "freaky aura."
"We need to make a plan," Law grouses. He's got both hands shoved in his pockets, his katana resting against his shoulder and looped through his elbow. "Kaido knows where this place is."
Zoro narrows his eyes, glaring at nothing in particular. All three blades ring in urgent song, in warning.
"The cook's missing," Zoro tells him. "He was probably blackmailed."
Law's expression doesn't change, but the crewmembers behind him erupt in concerned muttering.
It's the polar bear that speaks up though, "Whaaaat? Hey, hey Law, we didn't know he was blackmailed! He makes really good food! And he's super nice and strong! He helped save Zou! We should go after him and help out!"
Law shoves him off, his eyebrow ticking up in irritation.
"We're not going into Big Mom's territory," Law growls. "We've got to take care of Kaido. He's the biggest threat right now, and we don't have any more time to dodge him." He's directing this to Zoro, like he doesn't already know. Zoro glares right back, because he doesn't like being told what to do by anyone, but especially not crabby emo bastards who hate bread.
Lucy bursts through the door just then, her energy as boundless and sunny as ever. It cuts through the tension like a hot knife, and Zoro finds himself relaxing, just a bit.
She whirls on Zoro first, eyes bright and the fishnet skirt flaring out with her speed. Her fingers are splayed out at her sides like she's so pleased to see him that she can't contain herself, and her smile is brighter than the torches that light the clearing.
Shit, a reaction like that could go to a guy's head.
"Zoro! Zoro, didya hear all that? Sanji's on a place called Whole Cake Island and that guy Pekoms will—" She blinks, like her brain finally caught up with her eyes, and then she turns to Law and his crew. "Oh hey. It's Torao's crew. Hi, Torao."
"Straw Hat-ya," Law growls, and Zoro feels his back tense at the other captain's tone. "We can't go after the cook."
Lucy hums, a little confused. "Well, yeah, I know you're not going after Sanji." She looks around Law, eyeing Bepo with a slight pout. "Hey, why do you get a polar bear on your crew? He's so cool!"
The polar bear squeals. "Aw! Law, did you hear that? She thinks I'm the cool one!" Several members of Law's crew snicker while the others cheer their first mate on.
"Straw Hat-ya, Kaido knows where this place is. He knows we're here. The longer we wait before going after him, the more danger this country is in." Law looks pointedly at the destruction that seems to litter every corner of Zou. Besides the newly-erected infirmary, there's debris caught in and around the tree line, broken branches, and soot from the fires Jack's men tried to light. "They can't take another attack right now."
Lucy frowns at him, like he's the one who doesn't get it. "I know all that." She takes a deep breath, and directs the next sentence over her shoulder, her eyes firmly pinned on Zoro. "That's why I'm going by myself."
Zoro's first reaction is protest, mulish and stubborn, because the last time Lucy went off by herself she nearly died and they didn't see each other for two years and he refuses to—
He swallows the bile down, forces himself not to speak until he can be sure of what he'll say.
He knew it was coming. There aren't many options that let them go after Kaido and confront Sanji on his idiocy.
It still makes something unpleasant and angry twist in his stomach, something hot and furious and desperate.
Goddamn the fucking cook. He chose a hell of a time to go missing.
Lucy turns back to Law, but her stance betrays her attention, and there's an apologetic twist in her lips.
"Straw Hat-ya," Law growls, and Lucy's stance widens at his tone because he sounds angry. Enough that it makes Zoro reach for Shusui's hilt, makes him want to put himself between Lucy and the other captain. He stays himself, barely. "That is not what we agreed on."
Lucy's back straightens, and all her focus lands squarely on Law. Zoro tastes metal on his tongue, a faint warning of a predator in his midst.
Law's glare only deepens, undaunted. His crew goes quiet.
"I'm not abandoning you," Lucy promises. A faint breeze teases her skirt, her hair. There's power in her stance, a steadiness that's impossible not to trust, an intangible quality that skepticism can't survive. It's beautiful and an image of Lucy at her best and it rends something in Zoro, because goddammit it's only been a few weeks since Sabaody, and his plan was to more or less never let her out of his sight again. "And I'm not abandoning my crew."
Law looks at her for a moment longer. Then his posture shifts from aggressive to merely irritated, and his crew starts up their playful teasing again, muttering about how scary the new Straw Hats are.
Zoro is honestly having a hard time paying attention to anything that isn't his girlfriend, even as a desperate sort of denial claws its way through his chest.
He understands. He really, really does. With any other crew member, under any other circumstances, Zoro would probably whole-heartedly agree with her, would laugh at the idea that they should do anything but charge Big Mom's territory and only leave when they got straight answers from the Cook and Zoro's had a chance to gloat mercilessly over the rescue.
But it's not. It's Sanji, who emphatically doesn't need their help, and Kaido, who will come after them soon if they don't surprise him first.
Lucy twists so that their shoulders bump, but she's still facing Law. The other captain eyes the movement, but says nothing, and he lets his first mate distract him a moment later.
On any other subject, with any other issue, Zoro wouldn't have to ask Lucy to trust him on this, would just explain everything outright. But here he can't explain what he knows without telling her things that will only hurt her. Things that would only reopen wounds long-since healed.
Lucy's fingers brush his. He tightens his grip on Kitetsu.
The rest of the crew dribbles out of the infirmary, a few of them casting unsure looks at Lucy, and semi-hopeful looks at Zoro. If she notices, she doesn't let on, her presence still saturated in that rock-steady confidence, the same self-assured gravitas she's brought to every adventure between here and Shells Town.
She's good at putting people at ease. At convincing people that her way is the best one, that doubt is a stranger who never visits her.
Lucy's aura relaxes everyone almost immediately, with the exception of himself and Nami—who would kick God himself in the balls if it meant protecting their captain—but soon even she stops shooting worried looks Lucy's way and instead resumes glaring at Zoro.
Zoro looks away from the crew. Kitetsu burns under his palm.
Lucy reaches for his hand a moment later, more insistent this time. He nearly pulls away, furious at himself and a bit at her, but decides against it at the very last second.
Lucy doesn't say anything, or even look at him, too busy projecting self-assured cheer and being everyone else's north star to indulge in something private and personal. But their fingers twine together, Lucy's slotting between his as easily as they always do.
Trust me, Zoro wants to demand of her. Trust me when I say he'll be fine. Don't do this.
But he knows she trusts him. That's why Lucy's even considering splitting up in the first place. Trust isn't the issue here—it's trying to choose between a hurricane and a tsunami, and plotting a course through them both knowing something must be sacrificed.
Zoro can speak to her about this later, explain what he knows without explaining the parts that will hurt her. Convince her to listen to him. Later.
Now, he smooths her knuckles with his thumb. She squeezes back.
If Zoro has learned one thing about the Minks in the few hours they've been here, it's that the Minks love to party, and they're good at it.
They have beer flowing by the keg, they make great food, and Brook provides music that blends well with the strange lutes the Minks made out of trees and the drums they beat over stretched palm leaves. The atmosphere is warm and brilliant and close, in a way their celebratory parties usually aren't. That's probably to be expected since this only involves a couple dozen people, not the several hundred they usually clock in at.
It's nice. And the not-overwhelming number of people enables him to stay within earshot of Lucy, which is a plus. Even if he aches a little every time he hears her voice.
(If he's had a few more drinks than he normally would, well, no one's going to notice.)
The Minks are friendly, and friendlier with liquor in them. Zoro outdrinks four of them before they concede to his superior ability to consume alcohol and start to jostle around with him good-naturedly.
It's nice after what has shaped up to be a rough day. Normally he'd go blow off steam with the cook, pick a fight or three, but. Well.
"We need to talk."
Zoro looks over his shoulder to see Nami standing behind him with her arms crossed and still wearing Lucy's hat. Her gaze is steady, but Zoro suspects the redness in her cheeks means she's been drinking as much as he has.
"What about?" He asks grumpily, taking another swig. Goddamn this day, seriously. Nami's the only asshole on this elephant who'd be a proper drinking partner, but she's been pissed at him.
She's not having any bullshit though. "You know what about, dummy." Nami's left hand comes up toward the hat, then shifts away self-consciously. "Can we just…?" She gestures helplessly to the infirmary, where there's plenty of empty rooms to have a nice heart to heart in.
Zoro can think of few things he wants to do less right now than have a heart to heart. With anyone.
But Lucy catches his eye from across the party, glancing between him and Nami eagerly, and when she smiles at him it's brilliant and makes his heart seize in a way that's painful, like she's already an island away and an ocean out of reach, but fuck it, he's never been able to say no to that smile.
"Fine," he agrees. He downs the rest of his beer and briefly considers scrounging around for another mug, but the impatient tapping of Nami's foot has him reluctantly deciding against it. Sooner he gets this over with, sooner he can drink.
Nami leads the way. Zoro wonders if anyone will be particularly upset if he goes off to hack some trees into usable lumber after this, and promptly decides he doesn't care either way.
The room Nami picks isn't terribly isolated. It's on the first floor, and the glow of the party is visible through the window. The walls are the same mustard color as the rest of the Mink's houses, and there's nothing but a cot and a small table inside. There's no door, which is another feature the Minks seem to like in their architecture. They aren't big on privacy, and the only doors he's seen here have been on the outer wall of a building.
There's a moment of awkward silence where Nami fidgets and Zoro wishes he was…anywhere else, really.
"I…" Nami mumbles, staring at the bed, which is pretty much nowhere near the door, where Zoro stands. She looks like someone shoved dirty socks under her nose. "I'm…sorry. For. Earlier. I guess."
And oh, wow, Zoro has zero ideas on how he's supposed to respond to this. Fuck.
"It's not a big deal," Zoro tells her, because it isn't really, to him. Nami blinks a couple of times, and then her mouth firms into a thin line and her face grows ruddy with anger.
"Don't you have something to say?" She asks pointedly, hands on her hips. Zoro has no idea what she's talking about, but her tone pisses him off enough to respond.
"Nope," he replies, and he's just barely sober enough to keep the darkness of his aura away from her, but he can't help the irritation in his frame or the exasperation in his voice.
This is apparently more than enough to set Nami off, because she starts toward him, arms waving above her head and shooting to her waist. "You're unbelievable, you know," She starts "I apologized and you just—ugh." She gestures angrily to him, like she doesn't know how to articulate her frustrations anymore.
"I don't know what you want, sea witch," he grouses. I didn't do anything wrong sounds too whiny.
"I want you to apologize for talking about Sanji-kun that way," Nami shouts, eyes flashing. "For saying we should leave him."
Zoro scowls at her. "No."
Nami shakes her head, disbelieving. "I just…I don't get it. I know you care about Sanji-kun—no I know you do, don't deny it—so I don't—why would you say the things you did? Why would you even suggest we leave him behind?"
"Because we should," Zoro insists, because there's a strange dread boiling in his stomach, and it's not going to go away until the entire crew sets foot on Wano's soil, and Lucy's whole and hale and within arm's reach.
Nami stares at him in mute, frozen anger. Her fists tremble, just a bit. Zoro glowers at her, uncompromising and staunch in his position. They shouldn't go after their cook. They shouldn't split up.
"It's not—not like you," she accuses, bewildered and angry. "Even when it's Sanji-kun, you're usually right behind Lucy, running after him."
"The cook has a plan," he defends, a little angry because this is the umpteenth time today that he's been accused of not giving a shit, and honestly, he wouldn't be here if he didn't. "Dunno what it is, but he's got one."
"So?" She demands. "How could we not help him? He would do it for us. For you," she says, eyes narrowed. Still furious, but searching.
"That's not the point," Zoro growls. "Kaido doesn't care, and he's gunning for us." And then, because he's actually a little more drunk than he usually gets, he adds, "And that's not what the cook sounds like when he gives up anyway, so—"
"…what?"
The question comes soft, surprised, just shy of hurt. Zoro looks at Nami only to see her eyes widening in understanding, the fury present but making room for comprehension.
"You know something," she says after a moment, the soft light of realization in her tone.
Zoro scowls, discomfited, thrown by having said too much. "I know shit," he deflects weakly, kind of hoping she'll take the bait and tease him. The cook would take the bait, dammit.
"You asked to see the note," she remembers, completely uninterested in bait. "Before you decided we should leave him be, you asked to see the note."
Fuck. Lucy figured it out by way of intuition, he's pretty sure, but with Nami…he hates how smart she is sometimes. "And?"
"I don't know," Nami says eagerly, like he's just confirmed every suspicion she had. "I don't know at all. But you didn't say anything until you knew what he said in the note."
Zoro shifts, uncomfortable and a little too buzzed to properly hide it. "I wanted to see if he cried."
"Why did you ask to see the note?" Nami presses. She takes a step closer, and Zoro shifts away from the door to get away from her.
"No reason."
"That's a lie," Nami refutes. She's following his path around the room, but she doesn't crowd him when he heads for the window. "Why did you ask to see the note?" He doesn't respond. Nami's voice firms in its demands. "I'll tell Lucy about this if you don't answer."
Zoro closes his eyes. The breeze is humid, but it feels cool against his skin.
Lucy already knows as much as Nami does. And there's a good chance she'll ignore it, trust him the way she said she would. But given how hung-up Nami is on this, she's might push him to explain in the name of healing the rift.
He is so goddamn tired of this goddamn day. "…Don't tell Lucy."
There's a beat before Nami replies, baffled. "Why?"
Fucking flaming piles of snail shit in hell. "Just…"
"…fine," Nami replies eventually, her voice full of suspicion. "What—?"
"Wanted to see if he gave up."
"You…" There's frank surprise in her voice, uncertainty, and she sounds completely bewildered. "Okay. You wanted to see if he gave up. Why…how do you know what…?"
Zoro seriously, really, does not want to have this conversation. His head feels cottony and his emotions are all over the place and too close to the surface under the coercion of the alcohol, and these are things long-buried, things he's long since laid to rest.
She calls his name again, and she sounds concerned.
"You can't tell Lucy," He warns, turning to look at Nami over his shoulder, trying to convey the seriousness of this as best he can. "It'll hurt her."
Nami searches his face for just a moment, but there's no suspicion or distrust there, only concern, confusion. Lucy has always been a point of common ground between them, a place of solidarity. Nami trusts him unequivocally to have Lucy's best interests in mind, and maybe it's because of that, the steadfast fact of his love and loyalty to their captain, that there's no doubt in Nami's eyes when she swears, "I won't."
And fuck, maybe he's drunker than he meant to be if he's seriously considering bringing this shit up. He turns back to the window. Or maybe it's because the goddamn elephant is shaking his brains loose.
He opens his mouth and actually tells her.
"On Thriller Bark," Zoro admits, and goddamn he wishes he found more liquor to bring along. "I made a deal with Kuma. Idiot tried to sacrifice himself instead."
Nami's breath catches. Zoro doesn't look at her.
"Fucking cook was going on and on about finding a replacement and telling everyone he was sorry and shit." He waves a hand to indicate the universe in general. "Nothin' like that in the note. Cook even said he'd be back."
"What…?" Nami's voice trails off, and he imagines she's matching what he's saying to her own memories. "Kuma…wanted Lucy. How did you get him to…?"
Zoro's feet fall into the opening stance of Sensei's favorite form. "I offered my head instead. Knocked the cook out when he tried to do the same. Made Kuma honor it with me."
"But…" Nami's voice is firmer now, her brain almost audibly whirring into full analysis mode. "Lucy was fully healed. How…?"
"He pushed Lucy's injuries and shit out of 'er." He ignores Nami's sharp gasp, taking it for surprise. "Said it would kill me if I took it all on myself, but he'd leave her and everyone alone."
"Zoro—"
She grabs his arm, but he shakes her off, annoyed. If he stops to answer every single one of her questions, he'll never get this out. "He said it was everything from the battle, her pain, fatigue—"
"Zoro!"
"What?" He demands, spinning around to glare at her. But Nami isn't looking at him. She's looking at the door, where Lucy's standing with shock on her face and three mugs of beer in her hands.
Fuck.
Her eyes are wide, fixed on him. There's a strange kind of terror in her face, something she's never directed his way before.
It makes him feel sick.
The room is silent. Lucy's hands shake in a fine tremble, the liquor spilling over the rim and her fingers in spasms, and she just stares and stares and stares, her eyes faintly glazed, like she's not really seeing him, like she's far away.
He can't stand it.
"Lucy," he takes a step forward. The room is small enough that he could cross it in a stride or two.
Lucy's eyes flit down to his haramaki, to where the scars from Thriller Bark lay beneath, the tissue pale and raised and gnarled, patterned like someone tried to pull him apart from the inside out. They'd be grotesque if either of them thought of scars that way, deep and gruesome enough to be forever etched in his skin.
He stops. The light in Lucy's eyes changes from shock and sick terror to something else entirely.
It's like the calm before the storm, the tension in the air before a hurricane rolls over the waves. It's rage, and Zoro honestly can't tell if it's directed at him, Kuma, or herself.
It seems like forever before she speaks, but when she does her voice is low and her eyes burn. "You won."
It's not a question. It's barely a confirmation of something she already knows, and for once he can't tell what she's thinking.
"I didn't lose," he corrects, because the difference means something when it comes to that fight, and he spent two years training to make sure such distinctions would no longer apply to him no matter the opponent.
Her eyes still burn. Her whole frame is stiff with tension. He doesn't look away, lets her search for what she needs.
Finally, she nods. Zoro suspects it's mostly to herself.
Slowly, deliberately, she turns to set the beer on the table by the doorway, her face turned away.
Nami opens her mouth, one hand reaching out. Zoro catches her gaze, shakes his head.
Lucy straightens. She doesn't look at either of them, and even though Zoro aches to hold her, comfort her, whisper promises and reassurance, there's some instinct that holds him back. When she turns to leave, her steps restrained and stiff and so unlike her, he doesn't follow, doesn't call after her again.
Her footsteps are steady even as they fade down the hallway.
"Shit," Nami swears softly, scrubbing a hand over face.
"Shit," he agrees feelingly.
Shit.
Alternate title: Zoro's horrible, no good, very bad day
Um, so. Sorry? I've been gone for like…five months. To be honest I'm still not thrilled with this chapter, but I have tinkered with it so much that at this point it kind of feels like there's nothing to be done. And it's officially New Seas Ahead's one-year anniversary, so I wanted to post another chapter. Surprise!
Please forgive Nami. She's very upset, and she feels responsible for Sanji. And because Zoro is slowly dying due to Zou doing its level best to blind him, and he's already put two and two together about how this is going to go for the crew, he's kind of not in a great mood (especially since he's worried too).
Also, I just want to note, smacking your friends around is not a good thing. It should not really be treated as blasé as it was by Zoro. I wrote it this way because the Straw Hats are the Straw Hats, and Oda writes them like this both comedically and sometimes at points of serious conflict. But yeah, don't let your friends hit you, don't smack them around. General rules to live by.
There's this fan theory I saw going around during WCI that Brook worked for the Vinsmokes before becoming a pirate. I kind of don't think that's likely to be a thing in canon—especially since the Vinsmokes are from North Blue and Brook and Laboon came from West Blue—but it was a nice, convenient tie-in that probably won't be addressed or outright challenged in canon.
Zoro's such a cute little asshole. Whenever he's worried about the crew he starts to hover around Luffy from a distance. He did it back in Arlong Park, and at Water 7, and he did it again at Zou. Had he been at Marineford, I bet it would have had a similar result. He does it because he's looking to reassure Luffy, but also so he can protect him, and everyone, from anything else happening. He's like a pit bull. And then he acts like he doesn't care, the twerp. I SEE YOU ZORO.
Some of these characters just speak in perpetual exclamation points. Kin'emon. Bepo. A fair chunk of the Wano characters. I don't know if it's just how I'm writing them or what, but goodness.