Title: Almost Easy
Author: kikokus (AoiTsukikage)
Rating: NC-17 overall
Characters/Pairing: Zoro/Sanji, Law/Sanji, Law/Zoro/Sanji
Chapter: 12/?
Word Count: 3999
Summary: Sequel to 'So Good So Far.' Everything was supposed to get easier after Dressrosa – at least, that's what Sanji had assumed. He was wrong. .
Spoilers: Up to chapter 773.

Chapter Twelve

"Do what you will to me, Warlord, but you won't be gettin' any information outta me."

000

Yes, the plan to get some answers from the villagers was working spectacularly.

Spectacularly badly, at any rate, although Sanji had to guess they'd all kind of suspected that might happen. If the villagers were that concerned with keeping the information from the government, it stood to reason they wouldn't blab to a few random pirates…especially when one of those pirates was a government privateer, at least to their knowledge.

Law and Zoro had apparently gone for the 'if we scare them enough they'll talk' approach, with Law dressed in his high-collared coat, hat pulled down to shadow his eyes and Kikoku hefted high over his shoulder, and Zoro keeping his elbow resting on his katana, black bandana securely around his head. Sanji, of course, knew he could never be intimidating, but he had put on his best suit and dressed himself as impeccably as possible. It might not present the same image, but looking put-together and confident wasn't going to ruin the effect Zoro and Law were trying to achieve, he decided.

Still, while a threatening, 'take me to somebody who knows about the mines,' from Law had gotten them quickly directed to the Mayor's office, the man himself was seemingly a tougher nut to crack.

He looked like a miner, at least: broad shoulders, work-rough hands, and sporting a rather impressive beard and arm muscles that would even give Zoro a run for his money. He was stout, shorter than all of them, but Sanji had no doubt in a physical fight at least he and Law wouldn't stand a chance against him.

Mayor Zouge also seemed like a man who didn't take kindly to intimidation tactics, and his level for tolerating bullshit was at a level so low even Sanji was grudgingly impressed by it.

Most people in the face of Law and Zoro would probably prostate themselves on the ground, after all.

"I had hoped you'd be smart enough to do this the easy way," Law sighed rather dramatically, adjusting the brim of his hat and hefting his sword to his left shoulder. "For you see, it hardly matters if you willingly give up the information or if we have to force it out of you…and believe me, no matter how strong you may think you are, every man has a breaking point," he bared his teeth and Sanji tried not to step away from him, because this wasn't a side of Law he'd seen very often.

It was the side of him that came out when he was talking about Doflamingo, the side that was primal and vicious and willing to do whatever it took to get what he wanted. It was such a far cry from who Sanji knew he was that it was hard to rationalize, but it was what had undoubtedly kept Law alive for this long.

"Don't try t' threaten me, ye government dog," Mayor Zouge spat on the carpet at Law's feet, and Sanji saw the almost imperceptible eyebrow twitch that meant Law was fast losing patience with the exchange. "Maybe that works on some people, but I'm not one t' be intimidated by a mere name…Trafalgar Law," he sneered.

And okay, it was obvious that this plan was a dud so Sanji decided it was time to step in since otherwise it would degenerate into a staring match and that would get them nowhere.

"I know it probably doesn't seem like it from the way these idiots barged in here, but we want to help," he said, standing his ground when the mayor turned to him with a glare. "Look, we're no friends of the government…hell, this ball of moss over here and I are plain old pirates, but we're not heartless bastards and we know what was in the mines," he added. Zouge frowned, at least Sanji assumed so since his beard twitched downward, but it was hard to tell under all of that facial hair what his mouth was doing.

"What d'ye know about the mines?" he finally asked, eyes narrowed in suspicion.

"Amber lead," Law spoke up, losing much of the dripping venom in his voice from earlier and reverting to his normal, much more pleasant tone. "Or something close enough that the properties are nearly identical. Judging from the lengths you've gone through to preserve secrecy, I'd wager the fate of Flevance is also well-documented here."

"What d'ye know about Flevance?" Zouge turned on Law now, and while Sanji wasn't sure if he was any closer to believing them, at the very least he wasn't denying everything outright any longer.

"It was my home," Law said, and with those four words Sanji could see the fight go out of the mayor and he suddenly looked…smaller, more withdrawn, as he sighed and crossed his arms. "I assure you, Mayor Zouge, that while I may be in the service of the government, that hardly means I'm on their side and, since they're the entire reason my family…my entire country…was slaughtered, I hold no love for most of them."

And Sanji breathed his own sigh, although his was purely of relief. He probably could have told both Law and Zoro that being honest was going to be more effective than being threatening, but it wasn't like either of them would have believed him until now.

"I believe ye, lad," Zouge eventually nodded. "But c'mon inside, it's a long tale and we may as well be comfortable," he gestured toward the inner rooms of the office, and the three of them followed him into what was a very comfortably appointed parlor, the walls lined with high bookshelves. Zouge settled himself in a plush armchair, leaving them to sit on the sofa facing him, and Law hesitated before laying down both his sword and his hat before seating himself on the couch and crossing his legs primly. Zoro likewise set his katana down and undid his bandana, and Sanji did a quick read of the room and sensed no sign of danger so relaxing probably wasn't unwise.

He took a seat beside Law, discreetly resting a hand on his back to offer whatever silent support he could.

"Can I get you boys anything? Coffee? Tea?"

It was amazing how much more hospitable Zouge was now that he seemed to believe they truly meant him no harm…or else he was trying to put them at ease, but he didn't seem shrewd enough for that and by now both the Strawhats and the Heart Pirates had been hanging around the town enough that the townspeople seemed to consider them harmless.

"Thank you, but no," Law spoke for all of them, of course. "Right now I'd truly like to hear this story of yours."

"Right. Now, the way I sees it, if ye'd have truly meant us harm, y'wouldn't've come here to talk to me…y'would've gone straight to the Marines and told them about the mine, so not doin' that already gets ye points in my book," he explained, and Sanji could see the logic in that. "So whatever I tell y'now, it's not gonna change that y' already know enough to damn us all."

"I promise you, Mayor Zouge, that I would not wish what happened to my family on my worst enemy…well," he amended with a shrug, "perhaps upon him, but not upon innocents."

Zouge nodded, leaning back in the chair and beginning to speak. "Well, yer right in guessin' that it wasn't amber lead…at least, not the pure form that was around Flevance. It was good enough for local pirates, though, and word spread pretty fast among them so we had a good thing going for a while…and any of 'em that tried to leave without payin' had to deal with me," he cracked his knuckles and Sanji grinned, because fifteen years ago Zouge would have been an even more formidable opponent. "Eventually we started hearin' rumors, o' course, about what the build-up of lead did to a body, because even though the world is big y' can't hide these sorts of things. The best doctor in our town sent a message to Flevance t' see if there was any truth to them, and whether we were all already screwed jus' by being around the damn stuff."

"Did you receive an answer?" Law pressed, and he nodded.

"Aye, for a few months they talked back 'n forth, but the messages from Flevance kept gettin' more 'n more cryptic until one day they just…stopped. A couple'a days after we got the last one, we got news of the country's destruction, and that sent us into a panic. Even though the government didn't know about us, we were all so damn certain they'd find out somehow and th' only way to survive was to concoct some cock 'n bull story the people here at Zou would believe…and the rest of the town, mind you…and evacuate the island immediately," he stopped speaking then, looking guilty.

"The town?" Zoro picked up on that, leaning forward. "You mean, you didn't tell them the truth?"

"Nay," Zouge shook his head sadly. "The doctor 'n I…and my wife…we were the only ones who knew the whole story. The rest of 'em…we told 'em that the messenger from Flevance said that the lead wasn't the same and wouldn't hurt 'em, but that it was best to be safe in case the government found out and didn't bother t' check before they attacked. They were spooked enough from hearin' about Flevance that they didn't think t' question it, and before we left we burned all of the records and maps and anything that would link us t' the mines," he spoke in a low voice, obviously still feeling ashamed for doing what they had. "We knew it was safe comin' here because it wasn't actually contagious, and I think most of 'em have probably forgotten that it's somethin' they should still be worried about."

"But you had to have known about the effects of the poisoning before all of that," Law noted, frowning. "So why didn't you leave sooner if you knew staying there was killing all of them?"

"Because we were greedy," the man replied, and Sanji had to at least admire him for being honest. "We figured that since nobody was showin' any symptoms yet, maybe it wasn't really the same stuff and it'd be safe…and the money was too good to pass up. Besides, it's been fifteen years, and so far nobody's…"

"That doesn't matter," Law cut him off sharply. "I looked at the properties of both and they're similar enough that, eventually, the symptoms will start appearing. If it hasn't happened yet, it's going to happen soon, and once it does it's only a matter of years before you die," his voice broke a little on the last word and Sanji pressed his hand harder against Law's back, trying to keep him grounded just by touch. "This doctor of yours…where I can I find him?"

"He's dead," Zouge replied quickly. "Natural causes, he was ancient even back then."

"The letters, then," Law pressed. "The letters from Flevance, do you still have them?"

"I think 've got one…I never looked at 'em, can't understand that medical jargon, but if y' wanna take a peek…" he stood up and headed to one of the bookshelves, taking out a folder and flipping through it before he pulled out a slightly-faded piece of folded paper and walked it over to Law.

Law took it and scanned it, one side of his mouth twitching almost imperceptibly, but Sanji knew that he'd seen something in the letter that was unexpected although he had no idea what it might be yet.

"And now I think y' owe me a bit of an explanation yerself, lad," Zouge took his seat again. "Because somehow yer still alive."

"Devil fruit," Law replied, smiling grimly. "And a good deal of luck, I fear. Regardless, my ability means that presently I'm probably the only person in the world who can actually cure amber lead poisoning, and I'd be willing to help those affected here…but it's not something I can do until symptoms become more prevalent," he explained, getting a suspicious look from Zouge.

"Funny, all 've heard about ye is that y' go around rippin' people's hearts from their bodies," he growled, and Law gave Sanji a rather pointed look before smirking.

"What, this?"

Sanji still flinched when Law fucking reached into his chest even though it didn't hurt, and staring at his heart in the other man's hand was kind of surreal (after all, the last time it had happened he was kind of delirious from blood loss, so this was a relatively new experience).

Zouge was staring between them with wide eyes, his mouth hanging open, and Law leaned back comfortably on the couch, Sanji's heart still clasped in his hand.

"Yes, I can do that," Law nodded. "But I'm also a trained doctor, and I was able to save myself by using my ability to cut the disease out of my body. It's very clean, there's no blood and no pain, and it's never affected me since."

Zouge still looked suspicious, and Sanji had to admit hearing it laid out like that sounded unbelievable…but he'd seen what Law could do, and he knew he wasn't bluffing. "Why would y' want to save us? Y' don't owe us nothin'," Zouge finally said, and Law had to nod.

"This is true. But I wasn't able to save my people, so perhaps I can assuage some of my survivor's guilt by saving yours," his voice was serious, but also utterly honest, and after staring directly into his eyes for a full minute Zouge nodded.

"Aye, lad, then I'll let ye do what y' will. If anybody's showin' symptoms of any sort 'm sure they're keepin' them quiet, but I'll try t' talk to everybody I know from the mines and see," he decided.

"How many do you think lived there?" Law asked, and the mayor stood up and stretched his arms over his head.

"Well, some of 'em were old and've died since, and some of 'em have had kids so 'm guessin' they'd be affected too…maybe a hundred? Little less?" he guessed, and Sanji saw Law's shoulders slump because that was a lot to deal with.

He knew using his ability for too long exhausted Law, after all, and with his fake arm it might well take longer since his fine motor skills probably weren't perfectly in-line yet. He'd gotten Sanji's heart out cleanly enough, but that was probably a much bigger object than whatever the signs of the disease would be.

"Right. Direct them to my sub if any of them are developing the patches on their skin," he stood and plunked his hat back onto his head, reaching to pick up Kikoku. "Thank you for the help."

And well, that certainly seemed like the end of the conversation, so Sanji stood up himself and straightened his tie, nodding to the mayor and walking toward the door with Zoro.

"May I keep the letter, or do you need it back?" Law asked, holding it out, but Zouge shook his head.

"Like I said 's useless t' me. Keep it, lad."

Law tucked it into his coat, pressing the palm of his real hand against it before turning on his heel.

"If I can ask, did y' know the doctor who wrote it?" Zouge's voice called after them, and Law turned to him with a wistful smile on his lips.

"I daresay I did," he murmured, a little sadly, before he visibly collected himself and walked away. Just before he crossed the threshold, he stopped and, resting his elbow on the doorframe, uttered one last sentence:

"He was my father."

000

"Are you going to give my heart back or…?"

Law stopped, shaking his head as if waking up from a deep sleep, and looked down to where he was still holding Sanji's heart in his metal hand. "Ah. Forgive me, I was distracted."

"Yeah, I get that, but I don't like having it out in the open," Sanji reached for it but Law moved his hand away. "I'm serious."

"I know. I kind of like having your heart in my hand," Law gave him a rather coy look and Sanji rolled his eyes while Zoro snorted. "Don't you trust me?"

"Law…" Sanji frowned, because Law should know the answer to that by now, but Sanji could see that he wanted some reassurance. "Just don't fucking drop it or something."

"Never," he promised, turning away from them both before he continued speaking. "And I…I don't mean to be rude, but I'd like some time to myself right now."

"Yeah. Whatever you need," Zoro replied immediately, and Law glanced over his shoulder and nodded. "We'll see you later."

"Right. I'll give this back to you then," Law brandished the heart before walking off in the direction of the ship, and Sanji crossed his arms and glared after him.

"You think it's okay to leave him alone?" Zoro slid an arm around his shoulders and Sanji leaned into him unconsciously.

"Yeah. He'll be fine," the blond decided. "At least, he's got my heart, so he'd better be."

"Okay," Zoro seemed to trust his judgment and rubbed his shoulder. "Wanna grab some lunch or something?"

"Like a date?" Sanji raised a curled brow and nudged Zoro in the stomach, and the swordsman ruffled his hair in retaliation.

"Like a date," he confirmed. Sanji grinned, glancing around quickly to make sure they were still alone before leaning to peck Zoro's lips quickly. "Yeah. So. I saw this little bistro down…um…" he turned around a few times, blinking, but luckily Sanji had already scouted out most of the good places to eat in town so he had a fairly decent idea of where Zoro was trying to take him.

"That way," he pointed, Zoro giving him a look that was half-guilty and half-grateful before they started off down the street.

000

It wasn't really a surprise to go into Law's room later and find him lying on his back on the bed, staring blankly at the ceiling (Zoro had been roped into doing some repairs because, as Franky had put it, 'you're strong enough to lift a fucking house, bro, so it's up to you to help me'). Regardless, it was a position Sanji had seen him assume far too often over the last few days, and it scared him to think that it didn't even faze him anymore to see the surgeon so utterly detached.

Law flicked his eyes in Sanji's direction but made no other indication as to whether he wanted the other man to stay or go. He eventually pulled out the letter from inside his coat and set it on the bed beside him, which Sanji figured was as much of an invitation as he was going to get, and he picked it up and opened it cautiously.

Doctor,

If the information you have provided to me is accurate, the properties of the two minerals are strikingly similar – enough so that I do believe that while the symptoms of the poisoning may take several more years to manifest, it is fairly inevitable that they will.

As to when, I cannot say, but I would expect that within twenty years – shorter for any children born to two parents who are infected. As I indicated in a previous message, every generation will start showing symptoms earlier in life to the point where children will not reach the age of maturity.

It has already happened here, I fear. My daughter had just passed her sixth birthday when the white patches began to appear, and at the rate she is fading I doubt she will live to see her ninth. My son, blessedly, is unaffected yet, but I fear any day that will change and he probably won't be around to see his teenage years.

My research toward a viable antidote is progressing but the government has been most unhelpful despite my continued affirmations that nobody outside of Flevance is at any risk of contracting the poison, and without proper funding and access to equipment there is not much more I can do.

I will let you know if there are any advances made on my end, and in the meantime I urge you to abandon the mines and move elsewhere. It may not stop the progression of the poison altogether, but it might buy you enough time that eventually a way can be found to counteract the poison.

All the best,

Dr. Trafalgar

Sanji re-folded the letter and placed it on the dresser, unsure how to react. No, there wasn't anything new as far as information went, but knowing that Law's father had written it, that aside from the weathered picture it was the only physical keepsake Law had and he hadn't even known it existed until today…that was probably hard to process.

He debated for a while between giving Law his privacy and curling up with him, but Law thankfully took the decision out of his hands by rolling his head to the side and giving him a look that was so full of need that Sanji was moving before he realized it.

No, Law was still hardly the type to actually voice when he needed to lean on somebody, but in the moments when he lost his guard he was remarkably easy to read. Sanji stripped off his suit jacket, undoing his tie and kicking his shoes off before flopping beside Law and throwing an arm over his waist.

"Hey. How're you doing?"

"Okay," Law replied flatly. "I…I'm okay."

"Good," Sanji wasn't sure he believed him, but there wasn't much he could say to contradict it. "Can I have my heart back?"

"Yeah," Law dug it out from his coat pocket and shifted, gritting his teeth when the Room didn't materialize right away from his right hand and eventually sighing in resignation and sitting up so he could use his left. Sanji was almost used to the feeling now, the strange distortion when Law's hand reached through him, but when the Room dissipated he just looked irritated. "Fucking arm."

"Is that…I mean, is it going to get better?" Sanji asked, because even if Law had two hands, if he couldn't use his ability to its fullest potential that would seriously limit what he could do surgically.

"I'm not sure, and Mr. Robo told me he's never had to deal with replacing a limb that was integral to the ability of a Devil Fruit before. If it doesn't, I can still manage, since the only thing I seem to have any issue with is creating Rooms and I only need one hand to do that, but it's still annoying," he took the time to shrug his heavy coat off before flopping back, and this time Sanji didn't hesitate to cuddle as close as possible.

"You should come to the galley," Sanji said after a few minutes, patting Law's shoulder. "I'll make some tea or something and you can take your mind off of this for a while."

"I should," Law agreed, but instead of getting up right away he leaned over Sanji to kiss him, slow and careful and so full of a type of honest gratitude that he'd probably never be able to express in words. He stood up and crossed to the dresser, carefully placing the letter in the drawer with the photo of his family before straightening his back and giving Sanji a look that was at least a little closer to a smile. "Shall we?"

"Yeah," Sanji decided to leave his jacket and tie there, knowing he'd be back later, and followed Law out of the depths of the submarine and back into the bright afternoon sunlight.

Notes:

1. Yes, another chapter that was mostly plot-fueled, but I promise we'll get back to the smut soon! Also, naming OCs is always something I have problems with, but I eventually settled on the name 'Zouge' (roughly pronounced Zoh-geh) for the mayor because the word 'Zou' means elephant in Japanese and 'Zouge' is the word for ivory, so that was both similar to the name of the island itself as well as playing off of the elephant meaning :)