"You should have jumped. It would have been better for everyone," Mai snarled.
"Don't say that," Sanji whispered.
Mai ignored him and continued with what she was saying.
"Everyone would be happier, if only you were dead," she cackled.
Sanji sighed, "What do you want from me Mai?"
"I want you to break Zoro's heart."
"No!"
Mai laughed.
"Don't think you have a choice, because if you don't I'll just keep coming back."
"You don't realize what you're asking me to do."
"Oh, I understand all too well not that I really care," she laughed again.
"Betsuni you do can hurt me," Sanji mumbled.
"What about your heart, Sanji-kun? It's hurting mecha, isn't it?" she whispered into Sanji left ear.
Sanji bolted upright in bed. The sweat on his neck dribbled down his bare back. He ran an unsteady hand through his hair. The swordsman rolled over next to him, groaning as he opened his eyes.
"Sanji?!" he asked slowly sitting up.
Sanji climbed out of bed and had begun to dress himself when the swordsman spoke again.
"Bad dream?!" he asked already knowing the answer.
"Zoro, I love you, mecha, but I can't be with you ,at least not at the moment."
Zoro laughed rubbing his eyes.
"What are you talking about Sanji?"
"I knew this would never work," he muttered.
"You mean so much to me that I won't let you get dragged down by my past, my mistakes," he said biting down on his lip.
"You really don't get it do you?! I love omae, Sanji. I don't care if it takes you two years to get over Mai, I don't care if you never get over her but I will always be by your side," he said getting up off the bed.
"You can't promise me things like that," Sanji mumbled.
"Shikata ga nai that one day I may wake up and I no longer love you but what I swear to you is that I will always be there if you need me. Whether we are together or just nakama that is certain."
"I still can't do this. What if that day comes and you no longer love me? Or you're gone? What am I supposed to do if I keep relying on you and you do?" he asked turning to face the swordsman.
"Everyone dies, it's a fact of life. So when that day comes you must remember all the good times," the tears surfaced and began to spill down his face. Zoro knew that day might not be too far away. "And I think I have loved you for a long time, longer than you know. When I'm gone you must also remember from before you knew, before I knew."
"I don't understand," Sanji answered.
"I gave up drinking after you and Ace broke up. Do you know why that is?!" Sanji shook his head. "It's because I was absolutely no use to you in the state I was after drinking. I wanted to be there for you back then and gomen ne that I wasn't."