Play Grounds for Grown-ups
"Damn this city! Damn this life! Why can't they get over it already, I'm gone, let me be gone" Sanji semi shouted
Ace and Luffy looked up from the laptop and noticed that Sanji had read it and was now pacing, his hands nearing his smokes and lighter
"Oi, don't worry Sanji, we won't let him get you" Luffy tried
Sanji threw a sideways glance at the young man and laughed "Of course not!" he said in fake joy "there's no way a man who can deflect bullets with a fucking sword, and slice things up to 200 feet away from the tip of his blade could get through two guys. I have nothing to worry about!" having shouted the last few words, Sanji dropped, and crossed his legs, puffing a few times on his cigarette, he threw his head into his hands, dodging his cigarette, and tried to hold back tears "am I even going to see my son before I die?" he asked out to no one
Ace and Luffy looked at each other concerned, before moving to comfort Sanji, who, with little resistance, accepted it
…
"I've been telling you for years that I'm not the same person I was Zoro, I will kill you this time" Mihawk sat back in his chair, looking away from the glare Zoro was giving him
"Just spare this one! You've token the others from me!"
Mihawk glared back at the statement "They died by their choice, don't take it personally, they abandoned you to fight me!"
Zoro growled without a conscious thought about doing so "How can you say that! You sell out! You attacked our dojo for a sword! And they defended it! Don't make it out to be in your favor!"
"They made the choice to defend!" Mihawk smiled "at least they were successful" he shot a glare at the white sword
Zoro slammed his hand on the table and rose out of his seat "You've become a disgrace to the way of the sword!"
Mihawk only displayed a neutral face, and drank the last of the wine
Zoro, seeing that the bottle was empty made his way out of the mansion
"I will kill you if you stand in my way Zoro" Mihawk called after him
Zoro didn't look back and simply exited the house
…
Sanji turned to the door in slight terror as he heard a light knocking
Ace leaped off the couch, and walked towards the door carefully, turning around the some wall into the little receiving area, Luffy not more than ten steps behind him
Ace peeped through the door hole, then stepped back confused, he put his hand on the door, and pressed against it "Zoro, why the hell are you here!?" he shouted through the door
"Just let me in, I talked to Mihawk, I have information!"
Sanji looked at the door, and then at Luffy, who was on the other side of Ace "Wait, Zoro is in on this shit, what the hell is going on?"
"I can't let you in Zoro, just go home" Ace yelled back
"I'm not leaving!" Zoro stubbornly shouted back
Suddenly Luffy piped up "You have a son Zoro, don't get yourself involved, think of him"
For a beat, there seemed to be only a dead silence
"I already am, these people you're dealing with don't forget a name" Zoro said in certainty
"You're telling me" Sanji said sarcastically "Just let him in"
Ace nodded his head, then opened the door, letting in Zoro from the cold night air
Luffy watched from the side lines while Zoro and Sanji connected eyes, saying so much with no words, he briefly wondered if they knew they could do that
"Hi" Zoro said to Sanji
"Hi" Sanji responded not quite sure what to do
"Hi" Ace slightly glared at Zoro
"Hi" Zoro said in a flatter tone
A few moments passed, before Ace spoke up
"So, you said you had information?"
"Right, so what do you know already?" Zoro asked
Ace walked over to the couch and sat down "Take a seat, what we know so far is that the Shichibukai is paying Mihawk 77 million to kill Sanji"
Zoro sat down on a arm chair, Luffy on the couch next to Ace, and Sanji on a arm chair across from Zoro
"Nice to know your informant is still reliable"
Ace smiled "So what do you know that we don't"
"they know everything about him, where he is, and who's protecting him, aka you, not only that, but the Shichibukai, are being used by someone much much higher on the chain"
Luffy cocked his head to his side "Who's is that?"
Ace looked over to see Sanji with his head in his lap, then turned back to hear the answer
"Akainu, the 'admiral'"
Sanji's head flew up, with a look of shock on his face "Is-is-, I thought he was a member of law enforcement!"
Ace let his head slide a little lower on his hands "No, that bastard has been dirty for years"
Luffy, looked over to his brother "Ace, are you-"
Ace stood up shouting profanities, and started pacing violently out of the room
"Shit, Ace" Luffy jumped over the edge of the couch and walked after his brother
Zoro looked after Ace and Luffy with subtle comprehension
"What the hell? Too much is happening right now, what is wrong with Ace?"
Zoro looked to Sanji, and dipped his head a little "a long time ago, back in our youth, we were all in this business, had a whole crew to, and we were on a job, when Ace fell in love. The only problem was his lover was a cop, and Akainu, who was the head of the precinct found out, and held it over Ace for years, then one day, Akainu shot Ace's lover, and delivered the body to their house, cold mother fucker"
Sanji took it all in, not sure himself how much was sticking "What was his name?"
"Smoker, he was 12 years, 2 months, 5 days, and 6 hours older than me" Ace said from the doorway
Sanji saw the tear stains on Ace's cheeks "I'm so sorry" Sanji gasped out, the emotion he saw was so powerful he could just cry for Ace right there.
Ace shook his head "Anyways, is that all you have?"
"Yeah" Zoro replied and looked at Sanji
Luffy, upon entering, spied the look between the two "do you two want some privacy?"
Sanji chuckled a little "I'm still so confused about all of this, and still sort of in shock, do you mind if we have this talk some other time Zoro?" Sanji met the gaze and scratched the back of his head
Zoro nodded "Yeah, not a problem, guess I should be going, keep safe"
"I'll walk you out" Ace began to walk towards the door, Zoro following, they went through the front door onto the front patio
Zoro put his hand on Ace's shoulder, turning him to face him. Not even a second later Ace had his head on Zoro's shoulder and was hugging him, small sobs escaping from his form.
Zoro rubbed Ace's back gently with one hand while the other was rested on Ace's head
"Your stronger than this, Ace, remember that, he told you that, and he meant it"
Zoro felt Ace's arms tighten, before slowly releasing
"Right, I know, I know" he said while wiping his tears away "Go take care of your son, its already early morning"
Zoro nodded and left
…
"You look tired, we can take care of your questions tomorrow, go get some rest" Luffy said to Sanji
Sanji uncurled himself off of the armchair and nodded his head in compliance "Sounds good"
Sanji made his way up to his bedroom, and fell onto his bed, and began thinking about his and Luffy's conversation
Flash back
"Sanji, honey you're early, close the restaurant early?" Nami asked while holding a baby chopper
"Yeah, couldn't stand not being around him, or you" Sanji kissed Nami, then Chopper
"Oh, hey, we need to go to the store, we are out of formula, and eggs"
"Alright, just let me change out of my work clothes"
End of flashback
Sanji rolled over in bed 'how could have things been so perfect, and still gone to hell?'
It seems sleep would not come to easily