So, let me introduce you to a brand new chapter. It might take me some time to write another one, I'm leaving for two weeks to a country that doesn't have QWERTY keyboards. Still, I'd like to thank everybody fav'ing, following and reviewing this story. You guys are great! Keep the reviews up, they make me happy and more eager to write depressing stuff than ever.
You know who's also great? Minstrel Dorian Knightley, my own personal beta. Go bug him to finally write his Avatar stuff. He won't do it unless he's bullied into it.
Sanji lit up another cigarette.
The night or rather what was left of it was warm and quiet around him, almost as if the attack had been a bad dream. From the second floor of Solomon's house, where they had been offered to stay, the village looked peaceful again though some of the windows remained lit and movement could still be seen on the streets as the villagers hurried to spread the news of the island getting help from the Straw Hat pirates. Some of the braver teenage residents had gathered at the square where the fight had taken place to examine the black goo on the cobblestones with unhindered curiosity and a long pointy stick.
Sanji paid them no attention. His gaze travelled towards the beach where the waves of the coming tide smoothed the sand like a blanket. Looking at the sea always calmed him down and helped him collect his thoughts but on that particular night the picture carried something eerily disturbing with it. He found himself unconsciously analyzing the horizon, searching for the nameless islet their host had described and when he found it, a tiny speck of darkness against the slowly approaching dawn, he felt his stomach sink and his hands get clammy.
He had been almost ashamed of his earlier outburst when they settled in their rooms. He remembered the swordsman glaring daggers at him when he had confronted Solomon and had briefly considered taking his chances against Zoro anyway but Nami's anger had the power of stopping him in his tracks that no power in the universe could match. He still kicked himself for making her raise her voice at him and had even spent a good half an hour planning out an apology to the crew and his captain in the morning and a separate one for Nami and Robin accompanied by a quickly whipped up dessert. However, as he closed his eyes, an old nightmare he thought gone forever revisited him for the first time in years.
It wasn't one of those nightmares that had people scream their lungs out or bolt up in cold sweat. At least he didn't think so. It didn't involve monsters with razor-sharp claws, rotting corpses gnawing at his bones or even his teeth falling out. All it involved was a small island in the middle of nowhere, sun strong enough to boil your brain out of your skull, no food or fresh water in sight and no sounds except the wind in his hair and the waves crashing against the jagged rocks below. Instead of the usual terror that came with regular nightmares, this one filled him with despair so deep and hollow that when his eyes snapped open, the need to get out of bed was so desperate he had almost stepped onto the terrace in nothing but his underwear. The faraway sound of the sea now made his skin crawl and so did the sudden realization that he might be looking at the same landscape as the late Aron Fellman.
The apology resurfaced in his mind, wobbled on the surface for a while, then sank like a stone.
The sound of footsteps behind his back snatched him out of this musings. He sighed, blowing out the smoke of his cigarette, stubbed it against his lighter and straightened up without turning around.
"Took you long enough, moss-for-brains. Come to finish what we started?"
His voice came out unexpectedly raspy but he suppressed the need to cough to clear his throat. The last thing he needed was the swordsman thinking he had some kind of advantage over him.
Zoro froze in his tracks, paused for second, then spoke again with an audible growl.
"How the hell did you know…?
"… it was you? Your swords clatter against one another when you walk. You should work on that, it detracts from your stealth. Besides, you wouldn't have brought them here if you didn't intend to continue our little chat." Sanji turned to find the swordsman staring at him intently. "But if you want to fight, we should find some place better. You don't want to tear down the house of the man who so kindly offered us his hospitality."
Sarcasm laced every one of his last words. Zoro's eyes darkened as he stepped forward, his right hand sliding towards the swords on this belt. His expression had gone from annoyed to furious.
"Goddamn it, shitty cook! I'm not here to fight with you!"
"Your hands beg to differ."
"What?" Zoro looked down at the hand grasping Kitetsu's sheath, let out an annoyed grunt and unclasped the katanas from his belt placing them carefully against the doorframe. "We just got attacked, in case you forgot. I'll carry them everywhere from now on until that thing is gone." He looked back at Sanji, his face contorted in anger again. "Fuck you, what am I giving you explanations for? Last time I checked I wasn't the one to start fights around here!"
Sanji closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. For a man not looking for a confrontation, Zoro was approaching one at lightning speed.
"That was none of your business…"
The punch swooshed through the empty space next to his ear. Sanji shifted his weight, swaying slightly to the left, only narrowly avoiding the hit. His stomach knotted at the realization that the swordsman was serious. That attack could have knocked him out had it actually connected with his head and the thought that there could be another one didn't help his mood. They might end up trashing the place after all if Zoro kept this up, with or without katanas.
Zoro, however, kept his position, panting in anger.
"It is my business if it affects the crew, you asshole! If I hadn't stopped your sorry ass back there, we would have ended up in jail or worse!"
Sanji shrugged his shoulders and slid another cigarette from his pack. He drew in a long breath and let the nicotine serene his thoughts once again.
"I wasn't going to attack Solomon, if that's what you're worrying about. You think I would deliberately place Nami and Robin in danger?"
A smirk passed Zoro's lips at the mention of the navigator and the archaeologist.
"Those two can take care of themselves better than most of us, love cook." His body tensed again, the brief relaxed moment vanishing without a trace. "And don't give me that bullshit now! You looked ready to kill that guy right then and there!" What has gotten into you all of a sudden? Since when do you defend child murderers?"
"When the hell did I do that?" Sanji snapped. His left leg instinctively bent at the knee, ready to deflect an attack that never came. "Did you hear me defend anything of what that man has done? His actions were despicable and he deserved to face justice! Did you hear me, moss-head?"
He stepped forward, his voice trembling with fury when he spoke again.
"I said justice, not a goddamn lynching! He deserved everything from life imprisonment to a bullet between the eyes but what these people did to him was cold blooded torture! Nobody deserves that kind of death, understand? Nobody!"
Zoro let out a short laugh. His expression was brimming with contempt as he stared him down again.
"What do you care anyway? I don't remember you showing the same concern for Arlong or Crocodile. This guy was just as big a monster as they were. Where was your compassion then, huh?"
"As far as I remember, we didn't engage in mindless cruelty, shithead! We can see how well that plan worked out for those poor bastards!" Sanji tilted his head towards the statues on the streets below them. "This curse or whatever it is, they brought it on themselves the moment they decided to hide behind a three-century-old law and…"
This time the attack reached its destination. The swordsman grabbed him by the collar of his shirt and slammed him against a wall so hard, black spots danced in front of his eyes for a couple of seconds. Zoro's eyes were wide with understanding as he spit his next words in a mixture of disgust and disbelief.
"Screw you! You're bailing on us now? You're going to step aside and let us battle this thing on our own while you chill out in the background and fucking discuss ethics?" Zoro's fingers twisted around his collar so hard Sanji was sure he was trying to choke him. "I wish Luffy was here to see this, you bastard! If anything goes wrong, if anything happens to any of them, I swear to God, I'm going to find you and make you wish you were never born!"
Sanji felt every muscle in his body tense in anger. For a split second, the rage overpowered the pain as he raised his leg and kicked Zoro away so hard he almost went over the balcony.
"You think I would do that, seaweed-head? You really thought I was going to leave you hanging? I knew you were dumber than a rock but this is beyond ridiculous!" Sanji readjusted his shirt and stepped away from the wall to look Zoro straight in the eye. "I know who I owe my loyalty to, in case you forgot. It's you, each and every one of you! Luffy knows that! That's why he's resting and gathering his strength for what's coming instead of here, throwing punches around like a maniac."
Zoro stared at him wordlessly, as if struck by lightning. Sanji could see his fists slowly unclench and his arms relax but the mask of pure undiluted anger remained on his face for a couple of seconds before crumbling to bits and revealing something that almost resembled relief. Finally, he swore under his breath and looked away.
"Well, you'd better remember that, curly brow. If you ever make Luffy regret picking you, I'll be there to cut your heart out with a bamboo blade."
"If I ever do that, I'll hand you that blade."
Zoro let out a dismissive grunt and reclined against the railing turning away from the cook. Silence hung in the air for a while until Sanji walked towards him, a freshly lit cigarette hanging between his lips.
"So, if that's settled, Nami said we should all try and get some rest. You're useless to us half-asleep."
Zoro rolled his eyes and flicked a random pebble in his direction.
"Shut up, you're still on my shit-list. Besides, you hadn't flipped out back there I would be sleeping now instead of wasting my time with you."
Sanji caught the pebble between his fingers and flicked it back. The small round object bounced off the swordsman's eyebrow and fell into the green grass below.
"So this is my fault now? You sleep too much anyway. Forget I said anything, this is an improvement. Maybe you could train at night and get out of everyone's way once in a while"
"You want to start a fight again, dartbrow? Because I have no problem with…"
Sanji sighed.
"Nevermind, it's like talking to a wall."
"At least I'm not bipolar!" Zoro shot back, finally looking at him again. "What's your problem with Solomon anyway? You're acting like the guy killed your parents or something."
"He starved a man to death. Isn't that enough?"
The look that Zoro gave him was worth a thousand words. The green haired-man let out a small exclamation and stared at him in genuine astonishment.
"That's what this is all about? You got your panties in a bunch because he died of hunger? Nice moral compass there, idiot cook. Would you care half as much if they had flayed him and thrown him to the gulls?"
Sanji shook his head. For the first time this day, he felt tired, too tired to argue with Zoro any further. The events of the day were beginning to weigh on him and he regretted not ignoring the swordsman completely and at least trying to sleep through what was left of the night. He raised his eyes to find Zoro's still fixed on him, waiting for an answer.
"How… the hell am I supposed to know? Ask me when we reach another fucked up island where they flay their criminals!" He separated himself from the railing and faced off the green-haired man, his voice low and grave. "Do you know what it feels like to die of starvation, Zoro? It's the most accurate approximation to hell on earth anyone can ever feel. Your body eats you from the inside and there's no escape from that. You'll lie on the ground too weak to move while your own skins peels off your muscles and your bones break. And believe, me, death will take its sweet, sweet time to take you."
His voice grew thick for a second and he paused to catch his breath while the swordsman's eyes slowly studied his expression as if sensing something. The unexpected scrutiny made him feel strangely uncomfortable but he forced himself to hold the gaze of the grey eyes. Zoro stood still for a while, processing the information.
"You've done your homework?"
Sanji's lips curved into something between a smile and a grimace.
"Something like that, yes."
"Bastard probably deserved it, anyway."
Sanji shook his head. The cigarette on his lips was long forgotten and the wind was scattering its ashes all over the terrace now.
"I doubt anyone does."
Zoro chuckled.
"Your soft heart will ruin you, love cook."
"What did you say?" Sanji could feel his temper flare up again but it died down immediately as he stared into Zoro's calm eyes.
"You heard me. You get too emotional about stuff. That's going to be nothing but trouble for you in the long run. You should work on that, it detracts from your focus."
"From my…" Having his own words thrown back in his face turned his reply into an unstructured stutter. "What the hell do you mean by that, shitty swordsman? What are you, a statue?"
"No, but I learned to put my personal feelings aside when it comes to certain matters. Can you do that?
Sanji gritted his teeth, desperately searching for the right words but his exhausted mind drew a blank each and every time he tried. He looked at Zoro whose slight smile was growing wider with every second as if he was enjoying watching him squirm. The sight was quickly getting on his nerves.
"It doesn't detract from my focus!" He chose to spit back.
Zoro just kept smiling.
"Keep telling yourself that, love cook."
"It never got in the way of anything, you moron!" Sanji's attack was unexpected even to himself as his right leg described an arc in the air passing dangerously close to his opponent's shoulder. "Just because you have the emotional range of an eggplant doesn't mean all of us have to…!"
The rest of his words were drowned in a loud crash as his leg smashed through a crate Zoro had stood in front of just a second ago. The green-haired swordsman dodged his kick and was now looking at him with a mixture or surprise and amusement.
"Careful there, you were the one who didn't want to tear the place up, remember?" His voice turned pensive as he stared absentmindedly at the smashed wood. "I was serious, you know? Solomon also couldn't put his personal feelings aside. Look where that got him."
With those words, he turned around, picked up his swords and stepped inside the house leaving Sanji behind.