Author's Note: I don't own One Piece, and if you guys haven't noticed, I've posted a chapter for a story I'm thinking will be my next story called Escort Me, so if you haven't seen it and you like what I write, you should check it out, leave a review and tell me if you like the idea! I am so sorry this is so short, I just had no idea what else to do for this chapter ... Despite having it all planned. RANDOM FACT: I look for stories in the archive with the settings set to order by favorites and completed, rating all. So first of all, if you want me to check out a story that isn't very up there or you've written, please tell me and I will look for it, but my head just totally went up into space when Beautiful Disaster was on the 6th page of most favorited stories! I'm in single digits! Thank you guys SO MUCH FOR THIS, really, it's all because of you!
Speechless
By: Setkia
Full Summary
Sanji is a cook at the Baratie who, for a reason not fully understood by all the other cooks, has not spoken a word in three years. He goes through his life normally, communicating through paper and pen. He hasn't felt the urge to speak since he's decided he would never speak again. Things change though when one day, while taking out the trash, he accidentally runs into the "Demon the Streets".
Roronoa Zoro, the "Demon of the Streets" is a mystery but he's feared by everyone who hears his name. He's on the run from the police with a wanted poster and a big prize if he's found and captured. With an accidental wrong turn, he encounters a strange man with long legs and blond hair. Zoro learnt pretty early on that in his line of work, you don't get attached to people and yet somehow this cook is working his way through his barriers.
PART ONE: BATTLE SCARS
XII
Sanji is many things including blond, an assistant chef, a trauma victim, a sharp dressed man and a smoker, but one thing he is not is a doctor.
That being said, one can only imagine how well it goes to try and help someone who stubbornly refused the help of a real doctor, when you yourself have no actual qualifications.
"No!" Zoro says, shaking his head and refusing point-blank to a low Sanji to help him.
Sanji gestures towards the bandages that cover Zoro's body, the bandages that are currently covered in dried blood. Clearly he needs to change his bandages, but of course, being the stubborn asshole he is, that just can't possibly happen, now can it?
"I don't care!" Zoro says grumbling.
Sanji reaches his hands outwards, about to forcefully push Zoro onto the couch when he freezes. He can feel the pressure on his shoulder-blades, fingers so long, they wrap around his entire shoulder, so tightly they may just crush his bones. He rolls his shoulder back as a reflex and Zoro gives him an odd look.
Sanji shakes his head and instead gestures towards the couch.
"No."
Sanji grabs the bandages and instead of asking for Zoro's permission, he starts to take off the man's shirt, tossing it aside and then letting his fingers run across the bandages that wrap around his torso. He can feel the scars still, the little bumps and ridges in his skin. Zoro closes his eyes and keeps quiet while Sanji begins to undo the scars.
Sanji can tell Zoro's tensing under his touch. When was the last time someone touched him this way?
"Don't look," Zoro says quietly.
Does Zoro think Sanji hasn't seen worse?
Sanji ignores his words and instead continues to try and undo the bandages that are wrapped around Zoro's body expertly by the skilled hands of a practitioner. His fingers, usually agile with a knife and kneading, are now clumsy and just a little disorganized, to be expected of an amateur.
As each bandage is peeled off, the Marimo's jaw clenches even tighter, almost bracing himself for each movement. He takes a deep breath and lets out a hiss between his teeth as Sanji guides the bandage off of him. It falls to the floor and Sanji takes a new one.
Slowly, he wraps it around the Marimo who seems to be struggling to keep still. Suppose he doesn't like invaders of his personal space? Sanji lets his fingers run across each scar as they slowly are unveiled to him. Perhaps its strange that he has such a fascination with them, but he knows more than anyone how much stories they hold, the amount of tales that are written in someone's skin, he finds them captivating.
There's a large one, right across his chest, a diagonal line. Chopper tried to stitch it up and yet no amount of sewn lines can hide the gruesomeness of the cut. He wants to ask so many questions, right on the tip of his tongue, but he holds them in and keeps quiet. What can he say after all?
Zoro hisses as Sanji does up the bandage and it looks strange. Chopper's solution to Zoro's eye is to place a temporary eyepatch over it, reminding Sanji strongly of a pirate. It suits him. Zoro still has his eye, Sanji knows this, but he knows that it may never open again. Chopper had said Zoro should've gotten immediate medical attention, but of course the baka hadn't.
Sanji runs his fingers over the patch and Zoro flinches away.
"You're very touchy," he says. He's not complaining, just stating a fact. Sanji pulls his hand back anyway.
There are so many questions Sanji wants to ask.
Why did you run away? Are you scared? What did you do that you're a wanted criminal? Who attacked you? How did you get those scars? Are you really innocent? Did Ace find out? Do you hate me for making you see a doctor? What do you think of all this? What's your story? What are you afraid of? Why are you scared? Why are you running?
But of course, Sanji keeps quiet as he's become prone to and keeps all these questions locked away.
For the first time, it's not because he's scared of what will happen if he does open his chapped, cracked lips to utter those syllables he's never spoken in so long. It's because of the words he's not sure he's ready to hear from the scarred man's mouth.
Author's Note #2: The thank-yous! This is all in opposite order cause I got lazy and decided to just copy and paste your comments and then reply to them!
CherishMyFangirlism: Awesome username, but uh, okay, so here's the deal: does this mean that my forty-two chapter story, Beautiful Disaster is crap? Dammit, I tried really hard!
Shadow Lily Potter: Well I haven't seen that anime, but I might. After I finish Bleach. My friend will kill me if I don't finish Bleach. I'm still recovering from a character death in there ... 50 more episodes to go!
Ideop's: Paediatric doctor, it means he works with kids, just in case you didn't know. He's basically the doctor you'd send your kids to if they had the flu or something. I didn't realize it until after I read the chapter over, but you're right, he kinda is like that, stronger than Zoro I mean in that scene. And no, I WILL READ IT because I have the tabs open and I shall not close them until they've been read!
sanzaya (x2): I have him as like, a man in his early twenties like all of my One Piece characters in AUs... I imagine him as this short guy with messy brown hair who kind of stumbles on his feet a lot (if he were human). I told my friend your opinion of him and she laughed, she loves it!
tenshuni: Yeah uh this chapter was kind of this way cause I had to update anyway and I couldn't think of anything better ...
ThePoliceLlama: Love your name and when I tried to look you up for your offer, I found a lot of danisnotonfire fanfictions so ... Yeah, the fandoms sad ... I really would like it if you'd do that but you know, if you don't want to do it for something this long and collaborate with me (cause I just think as an author, you ought to have a say in it, sorry if that sounds pushy ...) I'd understand.
crystalbluefox: Yeah, this story probably doesn't have as much development as Beautiful Disaster, but I like it all the same...LettersLover: I suppose you're right ... I'm glad you look forward to it!
lilcutieprincess: Well I've updated ... sorry it's so short, it makes me feel ashamed ...
Random Person: Heh ... heh... I'm Canadian, my Thanksgiving happened in October... And with it came full school uniform! Stupid tie ...
And now my question for you all: Yeah, could you check out Escort Me and tell me what you think? And what'd you think of Sanji's doctor skills? (I'm no doctor, I know nothing that is why this scene is even crappier than anything I've ever written ... and I'm slow at making everything present tense ...)
Do you guys have any idea how long it took me to get to this many reviews for Beautiful Disaster? Or the amount of reviews I've got for Escort Me already? You're inflating my ego, it took me like, 3 months to get to this point for Beautiful Disaster and now, Escort Me, not even a week old, has at least 19 follows!
