Sanji was calm. Eerily so.
He'd seen it in Nami's eyes, back then. She had been terrified. Of him, for him. But he needed release. Needed to fling something at someone, he needed closure. But above all, he was so, so damn tired. So a phone call was all he had been able to spare Zoro, before he was whisked away to the Germa mansion. Zoro had sounded pretty desperate, sure, but who knew. Maybe even that had been a part of the gameplan.
The table, a myriad of sunshines, breezes, gales and frost, quietened down, and Judge stood up from one end of the table, a bubbling glass of champagne in his raised hand. Big Mom reciprocated the gesture from her end of the table, but without standing up. Big Mom's eldests smirked politely. Reiju looked uncomfortable. Judge didn't seem to mind.
He began pompously. "Today, we have all gathered here-"
It was as if Judge opening his mouth acted as a trigger for the heavy overhanging chandelier to detach itself from the ceiling and crash smack in the center of the long table with a terrific BOOM, the glass and crystal splinters spraying everywhere. Chairs were flung back with shrieks, the glass pieces had managed to lodge themselves into almost everyone present. Sanji shielded Pudding with his body, and frantically looked around for help, when something he hadn't thought possible happened- the scene turned even more chaotic.
A war-cry sounded from behind the ceiling-high wedding cake, and Luffy flew out from behind it, knocking down three tiers in the process and bathing in cake. He definitely didn't seem to mind, but that couldn't be said for the rest of the dinner party.
The outrageousness managed to shock the party into silence for all of three seconds, before the silence was shattered by what could only have been a blue whale's mating call.
"THE WEDDING CAKE!" Big Mom's shrill scream rang out, her eyes bulging out, arms outstretched. "NO!"
The exit doors flew open and waiters rushed in to salvage the situation. One of them accidentally lit the table cloth on fire, another knocked down the champagne tower, and a blue haired guy accidentally set off the foam machine, showering everyone with soapy foam, while a few others tried to clumsily wipe down the guests with tissues.
Unnoticed in all this chaos, one capped waiter sneaked away from the center stage and clapped his gloved hand over Sanji's mouth from behind, dragging him away through the nearest exit door.
By now Sanji had an inkling of what was going down, letting himself be dragged without putting up any resistance, and later running along the dimly lit fire escape corridor. The solid build of the waiter against Sanji's back when he was being dragged away felt all too familiar.
It wasn't until they had hit the highway and the hotel could no longer be seen in the rearview mirror that Zoro took off his cap and threw it to the backseat, gently releasing his foot from the pedal. Sanji said nothing. Zoro didn't wait for him.
"I had already resigned, the day we went to the sea front. I was going to tell you the whole thing, but, well, stuff happened."
"Thanks to who?" Sanji asked, barely audible.
"What? Didn't get you," Zoro began to pull up at the side of the highway.
"Thanks to WHO did all that happen?!" Sanji yelled, loud enough for Zoro to wince and draw away slightly. Even without being able to see, Zoro could acutely feel the oppressive suffocating storm radiating in waves from Sanji, as if invisible tentacles were trying to choke him. A weaker man would have been crushed. But Zoro tried to maintain his calm. It'd be over if either of them lost control.
"My association with your case ended way back. The only info I've ever passed is of the day of the get-together. I was mostly charged with keeping an eye on you, that's all."
"How do I ever trust you again?" Sanji's voice shook with the force of his anger. Zoro could feel the hurt in his words, in his eyes, and he knew, he had to make things right again. But first, set the record straight.
"All I can offer as proof...," Zoro shifted in his seat to face Sanji, and flipped on the light, "...is this."
A startled gasp was wrenched out of Sanji's throat, his eyes widening in disbelief. A raw, fleshy gash ran down from the top to the bottom of Zoro's left eye, almost cutting up his entire cheek, the wound still open.
"The price I paid for leaving Mihawk," Zoro shrugged, slightly embarrassed under Sanji's piercing, shocked gaze.
When Sanji didn't reply, Zoro went on. "Take as much time as you need. I know you have a lot going on, and I don't want to add to your troubles, so when everything's all right again, please-" Zoro paused and swallowed. Damn, never in his life had he been so goddamned nervous. "Just one chance. You wont be disappointed, I swear on my life."
Sanji looked at him for what seemed like eternity, and Zoro was sure of having his heart broken the moment Sanji spoke, but all Sanji did was lean forward, fleetingly touch the gash as softly as possible, and then lean back in his seat again.
"Don't talk to me till Zeff is back home, completely recovered. God forbid if anything happens to him, I will personally rip your other eye out. Is that clear?"
Zoro blinked, then nodded mutely and revved up the engine, his heart bursting at its seams, his sunshine flawless.
