Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece. One Piece belongs to Eiichiro Oda and Toei Animation.
Please thank RejectiontheHedgie for betaing this chapter. She helped out a lot!
[Chapter two: Small Fractures]
{*}
"You think I'm what?" Sanji demanded, watching as the little doctor winced under his fierce glare. But Sanji was beyond caring at this point. What Chopper seemed to have failed to understand during whatever medical education he'd taken, is that it was physically impossible for that to ever happen.
"Look, I know you don't like it, but test results don't lie!" The reindeer said firmly, waving a sheet of paper in front of Sanji's face. "I thought I was going crazy when I first saw it too, believe me. I almost went to ask Robin if she could double check them for me."
Sanji's initial response was to protest again, because there was no way that he could actually be pregnant. Of all the illnesses in the world, all the diseases and viruses, pregnancy was the last thing he would have concluded. But sitting in Chopper's little infirmary in the reindeer's favorite swivel chair, having his own blood tests shoved in front of his face and a frantic looking reindeer was what he got.
Sanji slouched on his stool, effectively hanging his head and draping his arms over his long legs. "Chopper," He said slowly, very softly so not to hurt the doctor's feelings, "There's just no way I could be pregnant, I'm sorry. Males physically can't get pregnant. It's literally impossible."
"But it's not!" Chopper exclaimed, looking pleadingly at Sanji and moving to grasp his hands firmly. "It's just really, really rare! There hasn't been a case like this in hundreds of years, because most men can't give birth. Sanji, I think this condition could even be genetic! Maybe one of your ancestors had the ability to-
"Just stop it, okay?!" Sanji shouted and was on his feet in a second, knocking over the swivel chair he'd been sitting on. He easily towered over his friend, who's big eyes widened when he realized he'd upset his patient. His voice shook as he said angrily "Look, Chopper, I don't care about how rare it is or-or how there hasn't been anything like this in years or even about my damn ancestors, alright? There is no why in hell that I'm pregnant."
He barely realized that he was breathing heavily, taking in sharp, ragged breaths of air while his friend watched him. Nausea rolled through him ever so suddenly, making him momentarily forget his anger and focus on it. The pale blue tiles beneath him seemed to disappear from his view momentarily and he realized he must have screwed his eyes shut. Inwardly, he refused to acknowledge it as morning sickness.
"Chopper, I think I'm going to-"
Chopper must have realized what was happening and had already cut across the room and back with a bucket. He thrust it into Sanji's arms and watched as the cook proceeded to vomit into it, the sounds of it hitting the bottom of the bucket making the doctor cringe.
When Sanji opened his eyes when he was done and took the tissue Chopper helpfully offered out to him.
"it's not-" He rasped out, instantly hating the burning feeling in the back of his throat. "-Morning sickness."
"Alright, Sanji. Whatever you say." Chopper replied, unable to meet his intimidating glare. "But just let me warn you, there is no other explanation. And sooner or later, you're going to have to come to terms with this."
If looks could kill, Chopper would be flayed alive in a pool of his own blood right about now. Without another word, Sanji retreated from the room. The cool night air that greeted him was surprising, but not unpleasant. He felt too hot. Almost trapped, like there wasn't enough air.
Pregnant.
Chopper had said he was pregnant.
From the second floor of the ship, he could see the crow's nest from where he stood. It only took a single glance at it to remind him of one very important detail.
If he really, truly was pregnant like Chopper said, than that would make Zoro the father.
Sanji felt sick again. And he wasn't sure it had anything to do with his illness.
{*}
He really needed to smoke.
Only problem was, every time he lit one, Chopper would magically appear out of seemingly nowhere and send him the most disapproving look Sanji had ever seen the little reindeer give.
He now stood at the railing near the main mast of the ship, again watching the sunset. The golden light it emitted bathed him in a rich yellow glow and turning the ocean a buttery amber. This would be the perfect time for a smoke, he thought to himself regretfully. A whole day had passed since his visit with Chopper, and he hadn't brought it up to anyone since.
He'd spent a majority of the early morning vomiting, but thankfully no one in the crew had seemed to notice. After that, he carried on with his day as though nothing was wrong. Besides the absence of his daily nicotine hit.
Luffy had been the first of the crew to notice his withdrawal symptoms. Sanji had caught the captain sneaking into the kitchen an hour after breakfast had ended, attempting to get a snack without the cook noticing. Without fully intending to, Sanji had angrily kicked the Captain though the kitchen window, sadly shattering it, and out into the sea. It'd been Zoro, who'd seen his captain's body sailing through the air and was used to him falling overboard at random times, who went to retrieve him. Sanji had then been treated to a stern lecture from Nami and a dark scowl from the swordsman afterwards, but Luffy seemed to have taken the hint and stayed away.
And all day, he'd been swearing at random things that irritated him. Slight things, which normally wouldn't bother him sent him into a full blown rage. Just little things, like Brook suddenly cracking a joke, or Usopp practicing his sniper skills within range of Sanji's view. Even once, he'd snapped at Nami, which earned him a smack across the head and reduced him to a puddle of apologies.
But not once did a cigarette ever meet his lips.
He'd deny until he was black and blue that it had nothing to do with Chopper's 'Theory' that he was pregnant. Even to himself, he refused to acknowledge it. But every time his finger's reached into his pocket's to extract a cigarette, the constant thoughts of 'what if..?' plagued him until he pulled his hand back out and tried to distract himself.
It was extremely frustrating.
Because if it turned out that he was pregnant, he wasn't going to risk his child's health with his unhealthy habit. Even if the kid was part shitty swordsman.
"So, did you end up seeing Chopper?" Came a voice from behind. Sanji turned his head around, already knowing who it was from the voice, but wanting to glare at the man anyways.
"That's none of your business, moss head." Sanji growled and turned back to the sunset, crossing his arms over the white railing. He heard the swordsman grunt and felt him walk closer towards him until he was standing beside him, copying his stance.
"It's just a question, shit cook. No need to get so defensive." Zoro replied airily, a small smile gracing his features. Sanji was instantly suspicious. Zoro was acting too nice, well, too nice for him. Normally they'd already be arguing by now. Not having a civil conversation.
Again, Sanji wished for a cigarette. He wasn't in the mood to read into Zoro's strange behavior. And he doubted that he ever would be. His fingers twitched and curled, which Zoro must have noticed.
"Not smoking today, huh?" he asked, that small smile slowly growing and now accompanied by a raised green eyebrow. "That's a new one for you."
"Oh, just go fuck off and play with your gym set." Sanji bit out harshly, feeling irritation settle in firmly and quickly escalating to full blown anger. But Zoro didn't seem to notice, or he chose to ignore it.
"You've been real pissy today, ya know?" The swordsman commented dryly. "Haven't you smoked at all today? Hell, poor Luffy almost died today because of your attitude."
Sanji's anger spiked harshly. He turned away from the setting sun to fully glare at his rival, who just met his glare with an even stare. "There's nothing 'poor' about that idiot captain of ours!"
Zoro rolled his eye "So what did Chopper say?" Zoro questioned in a light, casual tone, still looking at Sanji but with his body turned toward the sun. "You did go and see him, right?"
"So what if I did?"
Zoro shrugged and his one good eye glances over to the sun, squinting slightly against their harsh rays of light. "Just curious. You seemed really sick. You never get sick." The eye snaps back over to him, gauging a reaction.
That was true. Both Sanji and Usopp had once claimed that they'd never been sick before, and didn't know what it was like. Now that he knew, he wished he'd never been given the opportunity to find out.
Sanji was silent for a moment, opting to look at the sun as well. "Yeah..." He said quietly, "Yeah, I went and saw him."
Zoro seemed to sense something was wrong, and out the corner of his eye Sanji saw him frown. "Was it anything serious?" the swordsman asked.
Sanji felt a giggle bubble up inside of him, threatening to come out. Anything serious? It was majorly serious. But he wasn't about to tell Zoro that. He'd be dead before Zoro found out about his...Illness.
Sanji gives Zoro a lazy smile, hoping to gods that he doesn't look like he's hiding anything, and leans further into the railing. "Nope, just the flu or something. I wasn't really paying attention."
Zoro looks skeptical for a moment, and Sanji realizes exactly who he's with. Never, not ever, had he willingly smiled like that. Come to think of it, this was their first proper conversation with one another that didn't result in one of them shouting at the other. Well, so far. He blamed Zoro. It was easily all his fault, acting like he actually gave a damn and being all caring and shit. Or as caring as the moss head could possibly get, anyways.
He sees Zoro's mouth press into a firm line, like he's debating whether he should call him out on his lie, or keep it to himself. He instead pushes off the railing and his hands go to his carefully attached swords that sit at his hip. Sanji concludes that he's probably about to leave, thank god. He didn't know how much longer he could take Zoro's sudden 'nice guy' attitude.
"You sure that's all, Cook?"
Sanji nods, not looking at the green haired man but at the still setting sun.
Zoro grunts and turns away, likely off to go train some more before dinner. Sanji follows soon after to make said mentioned dinner before Luffy can come pester him for something to eat.
{*}
Things had begun to fall into a constant routine over the next three weeks for Sanji.
They'd yet to reach another Island, and this only grated on Sanji's nerves. Between his nicotine withdrawal and being forced to tolerate his insane crew, he was convinced that by the time they did reach a new island, he'd already have murdered half the crew (sparing the ladies of course, and maybe Chopper) just for something to do.
His new routine consisted of him waking to a now familiar churning in his stomach and racing to the bathroom to haul up last night's dinner. He'd then watch the sunrise before making breakfast and serving it up to the crew. After that he'd clean up the mess, make Luffy an 'After Breakfast Snack' and clean that up too before moving on to lunch preparations. Then Cleaning. Then Dinner. Then more cleaning, and finally bed. Unless some weird, crazy thing happened to interrupt his schedule, he was living a completely boring lifestyle.
But oddly enough, the only thing that wasn't boring him was the recent development in his nonexistent relationship with the swordsman.
Daily, the green haired man would pay him a visit randomly. It first started off with him visiting the cook for a few minutes a day, before escalating into the guy visiting every two hours or so. With his thin patience, Sanji was surprised he didn't snap sooner.
"What the hell is your problem, Marimo?" He finally cracked one day. He was preparing for lunch, setting out the ingredients and measuring them carefully whilst the swordsman sat backwards on a dining room chair, lazily watching the cook go about his routine.
Zoro's lips pulled into a low scowl and his eyebrows knitted together slightly. His head rested on his arms which were crossed over the back of the chair, which he tilted to the side at the question.
"Huh? What do you mean?" He asked, completely indifferent to Sanji's latest mood swing. He just met Sanji's piercing glare with a bored one of his own.
"I mean, why do you keep visiting me like this?" Sanji waved a hand in the air to gesture the two of them, not caring at all if the moss head heard the exasperation in his voice.
"I didn't think it mattered," Zoro said with a casual light shrug.
Sanji wanted to scream at him. He could actually feel the words bubbling up inside of him, longing to shout and yell and cuss at the idiot before him. He was inwardly seething. Why was he acting like this? Why was he pretending to care? To come visit him like he was lonely or something? Did he still not get that what happened between them was nothing and never would be anything, regardless of there possibly being a kid involved.
"Well, it does matter!" Sanji snarled and threw the dish cloth he'd been using to dry his hands on the floor, "Every day, you come in and just sit there and watch me! Do you have any fucking idea how annoying it is? And what's with the sudden attitude, huh? What, we sleep together once and you think we can become best buddies or something?"
Zoro didn't say anything, he just stared back at him blankly, like he didn't know how he was supposed to react. But that was just it, he shouldn't have to think. The dislike should just come naturally, like it did for himself.
Finally, Zoro spoke. "I tried to go back to how it used to be, I really did. But I can't. This isn't something you can just ignore, Sanji. I'm not like that, no matter how horrible you think I am, I'm not like that."
He'd said it so curtly, Sanji almost didn't understand what he'd said. He certainly didn't miss the fact that the Marimo had said his name instead of calling him by the usual list of insults.
They just kept glaring at each other, grey-blue eyes meeting a light green one, until Luffy rocketed himself into the room.
"Meat!" He shouted, completely oblivious to what he'd walked in on and racing over to where the cook stood, "Sanji, meat!"
At the sound of the door opening, they'd already looked away. Zoro got up from his chair and left without the captain even noticing that he was there at all.
Lucky Bastard.
"When's lunch going to be ready? I'm starving!" Luffy complained, tugging on Sanji's sleeve in a childlike fashion. It took all of Sanji's remaining self-restraint not to shove him off.
"You just ate, go find someone else to annoy." Sanji grumbled and turned back to the previously forgotten food.
"But that was hours ago, I need food now!" Luffy whined and stretched himself over to Zoro's abandoned chair, sitting in it exactly the same way the swordsman had.
"Just go distract yourself for a few hours and it'll be ready soon. Geeze, are you always this annoying?"
He reached for a knife and began cutting up the meat he'd selected into carefully even cuts. As he worked, he felt the captain's eyes watching him
"Ne, Sanji, how come you're so grumpy these days, huh?" Luffy chatted while picking his nose absentmindedly, "Did I do something bad?"
Sanji ran a hand through his hair and resumed slicing, "No, but I'm not in a great mood. So it'd probably be better if you left before I use this knife to cut you into tiny little pieces and use you to make rubber stew."
The light that drifted in through the window highlighted Luffy's slightly put out expression as the nineteen year old tilted his head slightly to the side.
"Nah, I think something's wrong. Oh! I remember now, Chopper said he wanted to see you after lunch! Something about a checkup..." Luffy then rambled off about how they'd be arriving to their next island soon, and how he wanted Sanji to gather as much meat as possible.
Sanji only listened to the last bit of it half-heartedly. Truth be told, he'd frozen in his cooking process when Luffy mentioned the doctor wanting to see him. That could only mean one thing, and he certainly wasn't going to like it.
"...and see if you can get that same meat we had last time for dinner, okay? I really, really liked that one. It tasted great!" Luffy continued on, swinging his legs out beside of him in a child-like fashion, again completely unaware of the effect of his words.
"Sure, Captain." Sanji told him, and felt relieved when his captain announced he was off to go find Usopp, leaving the cook alone with his food.
Well, as alone as a pregnant man could get.
{*}
He sat on the white crisp bed sheets of the infirmary's single bed with both his shoes and shirt off. Chopper sat in his swivel chair, looking down on what Sanji could only guess was he doctor's own notes.
"I know you still don't believe me, Sanji, but I'm going to inform you of what's happening anyways." Chopper told him without looking up. Sanji didn't even feel like complaining any more. He just wanted it over, so all he did was nod.
"From what I can tell, you're roughly six weeks." Chopper went on, big eyes flicking over at Sanji's exposed stomach as he said it. Ever since the doctor had told him he was pregnant, Sanji had kept a constant eye on his stomach. So far, there was nothing except for the slightest bump imaginable. It was only because Sanji knew his own body so well that he could see it. But Chopper's eyes made him guess that perhaps the doctor could see it too, and he wasn't just imagining things.
"This is called the embryonic stage of the pregnancy, which starts at implantation and ends at the eighth week. It's characterized by cell differentiation, which basically means that the cells start taking on specialized rolls like heart cells and skin cells, even bone cells." Chopper met his eyes and smiled happily, "By now, your baby is the size of a sweet pea!"
Sanji cringed at these words and shifted his weight awkwardly on the bed, "Chopper, don't call it that."
Chopper's little face fell into a frown, "Why? That's what human's call their offspring, right?"
The innocent question caught him off guard. He supposed that by actively calling it a baby meant that it was real, and that he really was pregnant.
"Because, I'm not pregnant." He said lamely, looking over the wall behind Chopper's head and tried to distract himself by reading the bright posters that covered the wall.
"Deny it all you want, Sanji. Sooner or later you're going to have to realize that you are pregnant. And I hope for your sake that you realize it before you're going into labor, idiot." Chopper scolded unsympathetically. The reindeer hopped down from his chair and went over to his desk where he extracted a bottle.
"A good doctor is always prepared for everything," Chopper told him light heartedly, pressing the bottle into Sanji's hands before he could pull his shirt back on.
"What's this?" He questioned skeptically, studying the white bottle for more information.
"It's pregnancy vitamins containing Folate, Iodine, Iron and Calcium. These are the essentials during pregnancy because they reduce the risk of neural tube defects like-"
"Okay, okay, I don't need a medical lecture, Chopper." Sanji broke in while tugging on his white shirt. "And I don't need these vitamins either. I'm not pregnant."
Chopper didn't appear fazed by this, however. "Just take them anyways, even if you think you aren't. You'll regret it later if you don't."
As much as he didn't want to admit it, Chopper was right. Even if there was a chance that he could be pregnant...
So when he left the little infirmary, he kept a closed fist around the bottle in his black slack's pocket.
{*}
I honestly did not expect such a large responce to my last chapter! You guys are amazing.
Thanks heaps to anyone who Reviewed, Favourited and/or Followed.
Fun Fact about this chapter: I spent hours looking up the Thousand Sunny Blueprints to try and get an accurate description of it's rooms. Something I probably should have done in the last chapter...
Until next time guys!