Disclaimer: I don't own the One Piece universe.
Characters: Sanji, Zoro
Relationships: faint Zoro x Sanji
Summary: Sanji feels like a failure.
Rating: T
Prompt: 100 Men #030 "Weakness"
A/N: Follow up to Overprotective (Chapter 2).

Overwhelmed

Zoro was sleeping on the infirmary bed, piled under a mountain of heavy blankets. He was pale and shaking. And Sanji's suit jacket was still clutched in one fist.

Fever, Chopper's official diagnosis had come down, and pain and exhaustion and sleep deprivation and hunger and thirst and blood loss and overworked muscles… The list had gone on and on and on.

Each new item had settled like a stone in Sanji's stomach. A lump had settled in his throat, too; he could barely breathe through it. The cook blamed it on his cracked ribs.

Sanji had failed. Failed Zoro, failed Luffy, failed the whole crew…

It was a cook's job to hold the crew together, Zeff had explained. Good food could keep people healthy and sane through even the darkest days. And good food was only shaped by the loving hands of a good cook.

Back then, with his first good meal in two months under his belt, it had seemed so very true to Sanji. That tiny little hospital kitchen with its humid heat seemed so far away now. And it felt like a lifetime had passed since Sanji had last felt Zeff's heavy hand on his shoulder, using him as a crutch.

Now, though, Sanji wasn't so sure. He didn't think a good meal was going to fix this mess—even if Zoro was eating. It just seemed so massive, like a stone weighing down on his chest.

Slowly, Sanji sunk down on the edge of the bed. Gingerly, he switched out the cloth on Zoro's forehead with a fresh one.

"Shitty marimo," he whispered. The words seemed to echo in the small room. "Stupid, motherfucking bastard."

Despite the vitriol, the cook ran long fingers through green hair. A feather light touch, afraid of breaking the swordsman even further.

"You're no good to anyone dead," Sanji continued after a long moment. "Forget about Kuma. Just move on. For the crew's sake—for your nakama's sake."

It was all Sanji could say.