Author's Note: I don't own One Piece. So I thought this chapter was one of the easier ones to write so yeah, it's longer than the others. Don't expect many chapters to be this long, I'm going to be away for the next 2 weeks so any reviews or e-mails you send me will be answered the two weeks later because I won't be with Internet while I'm gone. I really hope this chapter makes up for the last two and also, I've never written an action sequence in present tense so sorry if it's sloppy and weird ... Okay, I wasn't going to publish this yet, but I've decided I wanted to do it now. I'm going to be away until the 31st of December, don't expect a New Year's themed thing, I might try one though ... It might be for Harry Potter though ... I'm not sure if I can handle one for Zoro and Sanji, I don't know what I'm even talking about ... Anyway, review, please! I'm posting this literally in the middle of my exam week, so be grateful! Also I kind of treated Luffy like he's 6 in this chapter (he just reminds me too much of a little brother) so yeah, Zoro's treating him like a baby ...


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

On and on, like we're living on a broken record.
Hope is strong, but misery's a little quicker.
Sit, and we wait, and we drown there,
Thinking, "Why bother playing when it's unfair?"
They say life's a waste, I say they lack belief.
They tell me luck will travel, I tell 'em that's why I've got feet.
Left, right, left, right,
Moving along to the pulse of a heartbeat.
This could be the last chance you have to fly.
Do you like the ground? Want it to pass you by?
Man, you had it all when you were just a kid.
Do you even remember who you were back then?
What do you want in life? Will you be twice as strong?
What would you sacrifice? What are you waiting on?
-Battle Scars, Paradise Fears

XV


It's not as though he isn't expecting the officers to be waiting at the foot of the stairs for him when he comes down. It's that he chose to ignore this inevitable fact until it was staring him in the face and now that it is, his plan to surrender suddenly flies from his mind and instead, he feels the urge to run back up the stairs. Away from prying eyes, away from the men with the guns and tasers. Away from the ones who want to hurt him, who'll put him back in that confining, small, inferior cell, the ones who'll tell him it was his fault, tell him that he did it, that he's the reason she's … He wants to go up the stairs to that annoying couch that leaves his back hurting, the TV that hums with slight static, despite the clear picture, the place that smells of cigarettes and freshly made food, the place with the strange stars on the ceiling that make no sense, the place where he'll sit him down without a word and hand him another plateful of his favourite food. He wants to run back up the stairs to safety, to haven, to … to him.

But he doesn't. He's been spotted. He has to stay.

"Roronoa," growls the officer with the two cigars hanging out of his mouth. It's as though he can't go anywhere without smelling the nicotine, but rather than the soft, easily breeze of the smoke, it feels as though it's invading his senses and forcing him to smell it. It isn't the bitter scent that wafts around the room, this smoke makes him dizzy and queasy, the way he used to think all cigarette brands made him feel, but he's been proven wrong in the last two days. His doesn't make him feel nearly this sick.

"Before you arrest me," Zoro says holding out his bare hands to signify he's unarmed. "I have a request."

"You're a criminal, criminals don't have requests other than their death-day will be postponed," sneers one of the officers who stands to the side. Zoro glares at him. He isn't a big shot, not like Smoker.

"I'll listen to your request," Smoker says. "But don't expect it granted."

"Fair enough. I want to go back upstairs for one moment. I just need to get something."

"And what would that be?" demands a thin man standing next to the officer Zoro glared at.

"My swords, if you must know," Zoro snaps.

Safety is upstairs, safety is in that room. No, he can't think of thoughts like that, thoughts like that mean attachment and the memory of the last time he got attached makes him shiver. It's not the room that's safe, it's the swords. It's the sense of security and protection he has when he's holding them in his hands. His hands feel empty (and they are) when they're not holding them. When they're not holding her.

"Officer Smoker," Zoro's eyes are drawn towards a girl and he pales. He remembers her. He doesn't like her. She's a reminder. "Pardon me if I'm stepping out of line, but I don't think it's wise for us to allow Roronoa to be armed."

Smoker turns to the girl. Zoro knows she isn't her, knows it with everything he has because that's impossible, but still, it gives him chills. He watches though, torturing himself, as the officer listens to her, thinks about her input. Just what you wanted, he thinks. Wish you could see this.

"I'll let you get your swords," says Smoker in a disbelieving tone. "So long as you come right back."

"Where else am I supposed to go?" Zoro snaps. "I don't want to jumping out a window, I'm not insane."

"Officer Smoker sir," says the girl. "I want to go with him, make sure he keeps his word."

Officer Smoker nods while Zoro panics inside. No, this can't be happening to him. He's honest, he'll go and get his swords and come right back, but no, he can't stand to be in the same room as her. It hurts. It hurts so much.

The next thing he knows, he's walking up the stairs with her by his side and she's silent and stoic and he can feel his heart ready to break his rib-cage as he nearly misses a step before opening the door. Ace and Luffy are still here, apparently in the middle of an argument.

"I still don't know what's going on, why won't you tell me?" Luffy demands just as Zoro opens the door.

"Choro!"

The girl is clearly confused at Luffy's words.

"Who's the girl?" asks the straw-hat. "Is she your girlfriend?"

"No," Zoro says. "I've got to get going. Where's Sanji?"

"Him? He left after you," Luffy says.

"I didn't see him."

"He probably took the elevator," Ace says. He glares at Zoro. "So are you doing the right thing?"

"Right thing?" Luffy asks. "Choro, what's going on?"

"I'm just here to pick something up," Zoro tells Luffy. "And then I need to go. Tell Sanji bye for me, okay?"

"You're not coming back?" asks Luffy.

"No, I'm not." Zoro can't bear to tell Luffy the truth. Though he knows Luffy's only a few years younger than him, he feels as though he's only eight or even younger and to say to an eight year old that you're a criminal who's escaped jail, charged with being a serial killer and you're never ever coming back, well, no one should have to hear that. Zoro frowns, thinking. What can he tell Luffy? "I'm going away to see someone, I've been putting it off for a while."

"You're going home?" asks Luffy.

Zoro remembers Sanji's story. That Zoro ran away from home because of a reason he was too embarrassed to speak about. "Yeah, I'm going home," he says. "I'll write you a letter, alright?"

"It's not like you're going to jail or anything," says Luffy with a laugh. He likes being told things, he likes knowing he's in the loop, even if it's lies, Zoro thinks.

"Right," Zoro says with a smile that starts off fake but ends genuine. With Luffy looking at him with such wide eyes that seem so innocent, it's almost impossible to stop himself from smiling. "Not like jail or anything."

He then rushes to get his swords, strapping them around his waist.

When he comes back out, Luffy looks at him strangely. "Swords?"

"I … like to collect them," Zoro says, searching for an answer. He notices how she's quiet the entire time.

"Do you know how to use them?"

"Yeah," Zoro says. "I'll show you sometime, okay?"

"I'm not a kid," Luffy says, rolling his eyes.

"Sure you're not."

"I've had sex before, I'm not a kid," he repeats.

Zoro blocks his ears childishly. "I don't want to hear it! I'll be going now." He turns to Ace and leans closer, making sure Luffy can't hear him. "Take care of Sanji for me, would you?"

Ace is looking at Zoro with something that seems to hint towards grudging respect, but he can't be sure. "I was planning on that anyway," Ace says.

"Good."

The girl stops for a moment and speaks for the first time. "Do I know you?"

Ace looks at her and his eyes widen. "Um, no."

"No, I think I have, you have coffee with Officer—"

"Is it really important?" Zoro cuts her off, able to see the way Ace seems to be panicking from her words. "We'd better get downstairs."

She nods and they go down the stairs.


Zoro is expecting the officers. What he isn't expecting is the blond who's staring at him confused, asking him questions without words, his eyes piercing through him, making Zoro feel as though he can see his soul.

"Alright, let's get going," Zoro declares.

He holds out his wrists for the officers to cuff him and then in a few mere milliseconds, so many things happen at once.

The cold metal slams down harshly on his wrists and are locked into place the same moment he feels movement at his waist. He looks down and sees that the girl is trying to take his swords from him and so he tries to back away. He can't hit her. Not because she's a girl, but because she looks like her. She tries again, grabbing for Wado, but he avoids her again. Another officer tries to disarm him but he kicks him away.

It's obvious Sanji doesn't know what's happening, but he's watching, Zoro can feel the blond's eyes on him as he kicks at the men who are trying to take his treasures away from him. Trying to take her away from him.

The world seems to cave in, he can hear nothing but the beat of his heart as he kicks and dodges and then suddenly there's a pain at his side, stinging, feeling like a thousand bolts of lightning have been shot through his core and he feels himself go numb.

The white noise that he knows should be there is non-existent as he feels his eyes close. There is one noise that breaks through his silent dome.

A voice.

A word.

"Zoro!"

And Zoro just knows it's Sanji.


Author's Note #2: The thank-yous!

Random Person: Yeah, I'm taking my December exams (I think those are the same as finals? I don't know, we Canadians have different terms). I'm praying it went all right ... But I just took an English exam today and got a wonderful cute story from it called Midnights by Rainbow Rowell that I'll read like, 50 times over my break. It's adorable about this guy with a food allergy to tree nuts and the ending's hilarious and funny. If you can find it, read it, it'll take like, 10 minutes of your time. It made me smile.

lilcutieprincess: Yeah ... I know, I'm sorry! Hopefully you like this better!

NaruHinaLuvr: He sort of did ... Kind of ...

July's fantasies: Updated!

Now for my question for this chapter: um, I know the fight scene sucked so I won't focus on that ... How about Sanji? What do you think of this moment? What do you think this means for Zoro and Sanji? And what about how Zoro treated Luffy? What do you think this says about his character?

See you in 2 weeks!