Title: So Good So Far
Author: AoiTsukikage
Rating: NC-17 overall
Characters/Pairing:Zoro/Sanji, Law/Sanji, eventual Law/Zoro/Sanji
Chapter: 13/?
Word Count: 3738
Summary: Written for a prompt from curlybrow who requested "Sanji confesses his confused love for Zoro, but Zoro refuses him, then Sanji turns to Law for comfort, and when Zoro secretly learns that Sanji and Law are doing it, he becomes really jealous…".
Spoilers: For recent chapters

Chapter Thirteen

When he woke up, it was nighttime. The balcony doors were open, cool ocean breezes stealing into the room and ruffling his long bangs. He ached all over, his muscles protesting even the simplest of actions. A glance down showed he was naked from the waist up, chest wrapped with bandages.

"You're awake," Law murmured in his ear. Sanji could feel the other man's warmth at his back, one arm looped over Sanji's waist, and he decided he didn't fucking care about rules or arrangements anymore and forced his body to turn over. He nearly sobbed with the pain it caused, fisting his hands in Law's shirt and burying his face against the older man's neck, desperate for more contact. "We took care of the rest of the bounty hunters. It doesn't appear as if they have any affiliations in the town itself so it's safe for us to say here, but needless to say they won't be causing us any more trouble."

Sanji didn't say anything. He clung to Law like a frightened child, realizing perhaps just then how close he'd been to dying. If Law hadn't been there…

"There's no lasting damage from the bullets," Law stroked a hand down his back. "You should be good as new in a couple of days."

"You saved my life," Sanji whispered.

"I told you that I've lost everybody I've ever cared about," Law tipped his chin up, staring into his eyes. "I wasn't about to let that happen to you, too. Not now that I'm finally strong enough to prevent it."

And Sanji decided in that moment that he was just too exhausted and hurt to care about anything other than what he wanted to do, so he fisted a hand in Law's hair and kissed him, smiling when the other man kissed him back almost immediately.

"Thank you," he said, pulling away before things could get too heated.

"You know," Law trailed his fingers up Sanji's side, staring at him intently, "Mr. Zoro's rules only stated that we couldn't make out. So technically we didn't break any of them," he looked smug. Sanji snorted but couldn't disagree, because honestly, they hadn't. "Also, while seeing you in distress was far from optimal, I can't help but wonder what the…original purpose of that contraption they had you in was," he noted idly.

"You're a kinky fuck, you know that," Sanji muttered, but since he'd had almost the same thoughts he couldn't really say anything against that.

"I might have to get your shipwright to see if he can mend it, though, since I had to cut it off of you…" Law continued as if he hadn't heard anything and Sanji groaned.

"You kept it?"

"Well, we don't want a…device like that falling into the wrong hands, do we?" he smirked, raising an eyebrow slightly.

"Since the last time I was in it I got shot, I think you can understand why I don't' fucking want it anywhere near me," he grumbled, although the thought honestly wasn't so unappealing.

"Hmm," Law didn't really reply, laying back and looking up at the ceiling. Sanji pushed himself up a little farther so that his head was nestled under Law's chin.

"Hey."

"Yes?"

"This is purely hypothetical, but…if we got the chance again…would you ever let me fuck you?" he didn't know why he was asking that, but there was something really fucking hot about the idea of Law submitting to him.

Law said nothing for a long time, his fingers skimming over the bandages on Sanji's chest. He finally let out a heavy sigh and replied, "If it was you? Yes."

Sanji felt his breath catch and had to swallow down a veritable wave of arousal because now was not the time, but that Law would even let him said a lot. Of course, there might not be much chance of it happening, but the offer was out there now.

"I might even let you use that thing on me…maybe you'll lose your fear of it that way," Law was teasing now, except he also wasn't, and Sanji didn't know how to respond. It was certainly more forward than Law had ever been before.

That was the problem with it, though. While the rational part of his brain was telling him it was just Law's way to cover up his residual worry from the ordeal, Sanji couldn't help but feel something else was going on.

"You're not just saying this to get me to…somehow choose you over Zoro, are you?" he asked softly, feeling Law tense underneath him.

"Too smart for your own good," Law sighed, the words barely loud enough for Sanji to hear them.

"Law…" Sanji struggled to get himself upright, squeaking a little at the pull in his shoulders. Law's eyes were closed, looking like he wanted the conversation to go away. Sanji wasn't letting him off the hook that easy, though.

"The day I got my fruit power…" Law started, pausing and swallowing heavily like he was trying to tamp down some strong surge of emotion. "He was…lying there bleeding from gunshot wounds, and I knew that I could save him, but I didn't know what to do. He kept telling me that it wasn't magic, that I'd have to learn, but if it hadn't been for me he wouldn't have…" he stopped, emotion choking his voice for a moment before he got it under control.

"Shit," Sanji didn't know what else to say, but fuck, if Law was still beating himself up about that thirteen years later it had to have hit him pretty hard. Law already had told him he had similarities to Corazon, and that he got shot on top of all of that… "Shit," he grabbed Law's shoulders and stared down at him, watching Law slowly open his eyes.

There was so much pain there that Sanji almost recoiled because he was not good at dealing with feelings, but Law needed something from him and he had to give it.

"I'm not dead," he said slowly, keeping his eyes locked with Law's golden ones. "You saved my life. I know it's not the same, but you're a fucking brilliant doctor and you've saved so many people. If he'd never gotten you that fruit, if you'd have died, all of those people would be dead, too, and maybe nobody would have ever had the balls to go against Doflamingo," he realized with a jolt that 'all of those people' included Luffy and that was something he didn't even want to consider. "It was his own choice to risk himself to save your life, and you're doing so much to honor that by making sure other people live. I think he'd be so fucking proud of you," he finished softly, feeling like an utter fool because more than likely he'd been running his mouth for nothing.

"I hope he would be," Law whispered, reaching up to cup Sanji's face. "I apologize for trying to use sex to sway your decision. I know you love Mr. Zoro, and it's not in any way my place to try to come between you. Forgive me," he dropped his hands, something in his eyes going completely dead, and it was still frightening to Sanji just how quickly he could detach.

He guessed that Law probably had a lot of practice with that, though.

Sanji's arms were starting to shake from the strain of holding his body upright, so he flopped on top of Law, nuzzling his neck and running one hand up to tangle in his hair. "Don't fucking apologize. Not for that. Not when I…" he paused, trying to find the words. Robin had told him that it was possible to love two people, and while he wouldn't call his feelings toward Law love, he knew at this point they were undeniable nonetheless. "You deserve to be happy, too. Never forget that," Sanji knew it was a lame way to end the speech, but anything else would be getting into territory he hadn't quite worked out for himself yet.

"I feel like you could make me happy," Law mumbled into his hair. "Or at least, as close to it as I'm capable of coming."

Sanji didn't have a reply to that, and he felt like a coward for it.

"I should go," Law said suddenly, sounding almost panicked. Sanji clamped an arm around his waist, keeping him in place.

"No. I want you here," Sanji was sure of that much. "I can't make any promises, because it's all up to Zoro at this point, but…" he sighed, feeling more tired than ever.

He half-expected Law to leave anyway but his body relaxed after a few tense moments.

They were quiet then, their breathing the only sound in the room, until Law spoke again: "I really do hope he's proud of me."

"I know he is," Sanji reached for Law's hand, lacing their fingers.

They fell asleep like that, hands intertwined over Law's heart, and Sanji's last thought was that at this point he'd do almost anything to make Law happy.

000

"Hey. You awake?"

"Zoro?" Sanji opened his eyes and looked over his shoulder, a little surprised to see the swordsman sitting nearly in bed with him. By the light streaming into the room, it was morning this time.

"Yeah," Zoro glanced at him briefly before looking away, arms crossed and a scowl on his face. "How're you feeling?"

"Better," Sanji pushed himself upright, leaning back against the headboard and glancing down at his chest. The bandages looked clean, at least, although he supposed the advantage to Law's method of surgery was that it didn't result in any more blood loss. The wounds themselves would still have to heal on their own, but that was a small price to pay considering how close it had been. "Sore."

Zoro grunted in what Sanji guessed was acknowledgment but still didn't look at him, and Sanji leaned onto his shoulder and sighed. They were quiet for a while, something not quite comfortable in the silence between them, before Zoro spoke again. "I know how you felt."

"What?" Sanji wasn't sure what he was talking about. "About what?"

"With me. And Kuma. I…damn it, Cook, you were bleeding out in my arms and I couldn't do a fucking thing to save you. If I'd have been a second faster that bastard would never have gotten a shot off," he was so angry that Sanji could practically see a red aura surrounding him, stifling and dark. The blond grabbed his hand, trying to ground him to the present, because Zoro when he got like this was frightening.

"It was," he said instead, although it wasn't a memory he liked to relive. "We didn't know if you were going to wake up, and I spent the entire time blaming myself for what had happened. But you're alive, and I'm alive, and it's all behind us now," he stroked his fingers over the back of Zoro's hand, watching him relax slowly.

"You wouldn't be if it weren't for him," he nearly spat the word out, like talking about Law was that undesirable. "I guess I owe him one."

"Honestly, I'm surprised the two of you managed to get me out of there without turning on each other," Sanji commented. He still wasn't sure why Zoro hated Law so much, because this kind of animosity went far deeper than Law just sleeping with Sanji, but it was a little annoying.

"I guess if we have a common goal it's easier to put up with him," Zoro grunted, his arm coming around Sanji's shoulders seemingly on instinct. "And he really does like you, I'll give him that. I thought he was gonna rip the town apart to find you," he sounded grudgingly respectful, at least.

"Speaking of, how did you find me?" Sanji hadn't really thought about it that much at the time, but he knew how lucky he was for them to have shown up at the exact right moment.

"Um," Zoro paused, biting his lip. "I saw it happen. I was gonna come talk to you when I saw them jump you, and I didn't think it'd be a good idea to try and fight all of them in the middle of town when we're stuck here for a while. I watched which way they were going and went to find somebody to help, and he just happened to be the first guy I ran into," he looked grumpy about that now.

"Probably a good thing, because you'd have gotten lost ten times trying to get through that place and I'd be a corpse right now," Sanji replied, meaning it to come out light. Zoro looked at him with horror in his eye and yanked Sanji close to him, nearly crushing him against his body.

"Don't fucking say that. Don't ever joke about that, Cook," he was utterly serious. Sanji gulped and nodded, realizing in that moment how affected Zoro had truly been. They threatened to kill each other on a regular basis, after all, and Zoro had never had an issue with it before, but they were never being serious about it.

He wrapped his arms around the swordsman, resting his cheek on Zoro's broad shoulder. " 'm sorry. I shouldn't have said that."

"Damn right you shouldn't have," Zoro muttered into his hair, his hands running gently up and down Sanji's back. "Shit, I tried to be careful so I didn't fuck up saving you and it turns out I was useless anyway."

"You weren't," Sanji promised, reaching for Zoro's hand and grasping it tightly. "They told me they were going to…to break my legs before they handed me over to the Marines," he whispered. "Fuck, Zoro, they wanted to cripple me and humiliate me and that…damn leader of theirs had this look in his eyes like he wanted to violate me on top of all of it. Maybe your…methods of entering were a little heavy-handed, but I'm not sure they wouldn't have shot me anyway just for good measure before it was all over," he was rarely this candid around Zoro but today was a special exception, and for once he knew Zoro would listen and not pretend to brush his words aside.

"But if Law…"

"Yes. Yeah, I would have…died," Sanji's voice wavered a little on the word. "But I didn't, and that's all you should care about. Not everything has to be a pissing contest between the two of you," he jabbed Zoro none-too-gently in the chest with his finger before settling down.

"I just…I dunno what you see in me sometimes, Cook. I know I said that he's not good enough for you, but I don't think that's true. He's smart and powerful and good at damn near everything and I'm just…"

"The second greatest swordsman in the world?" Sanji raised an eyebrow and Zoro snorted. "Look, Marimo, there are a lot of people around that are smart and powerful, and since I've never shown any interest in them before that obviously has nothing to do with it. The bottom line is that I'm in love with you, and maybe I can't put it into words exactly why it happened, but I think that's how love works," he wrinkled his nose and lay back on Zoro's shoulder.

"Maybe," Zoro didn't sound sure, but he wasn't letting Sanji go. "I know that…you mean a lot to me, and that today was one of the scariest moments of my life," he said quietly. "I can't imagine being part of this crew, being on that ship, without you in the galley bitching at people for trying to steal food. And I really can't imagine going into battle and not having you at my back," it seemed like he'd given this a lot of thought. "I don't know what that means, and I don't know if I can give you everything you want from me, but…"

"Wait." Sanji didn't know why he was stopping the other man. This was the one thing he'd wanted to hear more than anything, but something didn't feel quite right about how it had come to be. "You're emotional right now because of what happened, and I did give you until the end of the week. If you still feel the same when this all isn't so fresh, then…" he shrugged, unable to stop from grinning. Zoro smiled back and threaded his fingers through Sanji's hair, guiding him gently down to lie half on top of him.

Sanji squirmed a little to get comfortable, draped over Zoro's broad chest. 'Thought you didn't cuddle," he mumbled.

" 's not cuddling."

"You're lying in a bed hugging me. That's cuddling," Sanji tapped Zoro's nose.

"I'm making an exception because you're injured."

'Sure you are," Sanji closed his eyes and probably would have gone to sleep right there if he hadn't sensed another presence standing in the doorway. He opened his eyes and looked in that direction, trying not to tip Zoro off that they'd been caught.

Law noticed him looking and the look on his face was a sort of wistful half-smile, a rather intensely human expression that Sanji wasn't used to from him. He nodded to Sanji and turned around, leaving as silently as he'd come.

"Was that Law?" Zoro grunted.

"Yeah. Can you…"

"Kind of," the other man shrugged. "If it's super strong emotions I can sort of sense them, and I can usually feel when people are creeping around, but I know yours is a lot more developed. You aren't, um, going after him?"

Zoro sounded a little worried, so Sanji decided to calm his fears. "No. You know he and I were just fuck-buddies, so don't worry about him," he kept his words as dismissive as possible even though internally he was freaking out.

He had no idea how long Law had been standing there or how much he'd heard, after all.

"You're not, though," Zoro countered and Sanji looked at him. "You…you like each other. More than the sex, I mean," he coughed awkwardly, a flush staining his cheeks. "I didn't really believe it before, but seeing how he was with you today…"

"Did something…happen after I blacked out?" Sanji asked. He knew Law had been rather…tender with him in the moment, which was odd because the surgeon's bedside manner was normally rather impersonal, but Sanji didn't think Zoro would have analyzed it that much.

"Kind of," the other man shrugged. "He wouldn't let me carry you, even though he said that since the bullets were gone there was probably no danger in hurting you more, but the whole time we walked back he was just…staring at you with this look on his face like he was seeing a ghost or something."

And oh Fuck. Yeah, that made sense, with what Law had told him. "It's nothing," he replied instead, since that wasn't his information to tell. "I apparently remind him of somebody he knew a long time ago."

Zoro only grunted as a reply, his hand heavy on Sanji's back. "You should sleep some more," he said after a few moments of silence. "Should I…"

"You're not going anywhere," Sanji told him with a glare, and he was a little taken aback when Zoro chuckled. "What?"

"I wasn't gonna leave, Cook. I wanted to ask if I should kiss you or something," he raised one arm so he could scratch the back of his head awkwardly. Sanji just blinked at him, completely stunned, before he nodded.

"Yeah. Yeah, go ahead," he felt his breath catch when Zoro lightly touched their lips together. He was still far more tentative in this than Sanji had ever seen him doing anything, but that he wanted it spoke volumes.

"I'm really glad you're alive," Zoro said as he pulled away, arms tightening around Sanji. The blond smiled against Zoro's neck, letting his eyes slip closed.

"Yeah. Me, too."

000

By mid-afternoon he was slept out and feeling restless. He decided to walk down to the beach, promising Zoro he'd take it easy (the swordsman probably hadn't reached his nap quota for the day yet and he seemed unlikely to move yet).

Law was sitting on a rock with his elbows braced on his knees, sword lying beside him. The tide was low and there were large clouds rolling in from out at sea, beach deserted in anticipation of the upcoming storm.

"Hey."

Sanji really didn't want to have this conversation, but walking away wasn't an option because he knew that Law knew he was there.

"I spoke to the proprietor of the Inn," Law's voice was perfectly mild. "I was told there was an available room for the rest of the week, so you don't have to worry about sharing a bed with me."

"What?" Sanji blinked, because that was the last thing he was expecting. "No, you don't have to…"

"You know that I saw the two of you earlier," Law spoke over him, still not turning around. "Our agreement was only binding so long as there was still a question as to what Mr. Zoro was truly feeling. I believe, since that has been answered now, it's best to move on."

"Law…" Sanji put a hand on his shoulder and Law froze, tensing up.

"I'd appreciate it if you didn't touch me right now, Mr. Blackleg," he whispered, his voice tight with suppressed emotion. Sanji snatched his hand back as if burned, not sure what to say.

"I'm sorry," he finally spoke. "I never meant…"

"I know," Law did turn, then, and gave him a tight-lipped smile that seemed far from genuine. "It's my own fault, so don't blame yourself," he stood up and brushed off his jeans, hoisting his sword over his shoulder and walking back toward the Inn. "I should have learned long ago not to expect anything good for myself, but I thought…" he sighed heavily. "I hope that he's everything you want, because you do deserve that," he didn't look back, his steps unsteady as he made his way across the sand.

Sanji looked after him, his voice caught in his throat. There was a rumble of thunder in the distance. A couple of stray raindrops hit his skin as the wind started to pick up.

Fuck.

So much for making Law happy.

Notes.

1. …I did promise there would be more angst…

2. Again, I'm not sure how quick the next update will be because the end of the weekend means I need to focus on real life for a few days, but we'll see how it goes!