If He Was There
Summary: What if Zoro had been there at Whole Cake? What would he have done, especially after the aftermath of that event? Minor spoilers for chapter 844/episode 807-808+
Author's note: It isn't often I think to write in Zoro's POV, but I thought it fit for this story. Just my thoughts on how he would have acted had he been at Whole Cake. And Nami was a total bitch for slapping Sanji after the shit she pulled back during Arlong Park. At least Sanji didn't steal the Sunny. God, sometimes I hate her. Anyway, please enjoy!
My heart raced as the dust cleared. The cook was standing over our unconscious captain with a peculiar look on his face. A mix of anger and sadness. The look lasted less than a second. He needed to keep up the mask for the assholes behind us. If they saw anything resembling remorse, whatever plan the cook had would crumble to dust in minutes.
It wasn't often I couldn't read the blond's face. He usually wore his heart on his sleeve. That was one of the many things that annoyed me about him. Usually. Now, however, I was annoyed that I couldn't read his expression. What the hell was he planning? What was he thinking? Did he really want us to leave? The fact that he hadn't stopped the moment Nami screamed meant this was serious. Whatever his family had told him or whatever they were forcing him to do was some heavy shit. Curly-brow never disobeyed an order from his precious Nami-san.
"Sanji..." His name left my lips before I could stop it, shocking the hell out of both of us. He raised an eyebrow at me, the perfect mask slipping for a moment before being replaced by a scathing scowl. I never thought I'd be happy to see him glaring at me. At least it was familiar. For a moment, I could pretend we were about to get into a childish argument.
But we weren't on the ship. We were smack dab in the middle of enemy territory. There would be no childish arguments here.
Despite my confusion, an ache formed in my chest. It was no secret that the chef and I had a sibling-like rivalry, but he was part of the crew. I needed him to watch my back, as much as I hated to admit it. Fights wouldn't be the same.
The crew wouldn't be the same.
He did things I couldn't do. He was the reason Crocodile thought we were dead before we reached Alabasta. He was the reason we were able to track down Robin in Ennies Lobby. He was the reason we'd escaped that shitshow at all.
"You're a pain in the ass. Making us come all the way out here to save you. Why?"
That cold glare grew impossibly colder. "I don't know. Why did you?"
"The fuck if I know. It was his idea! I'm just following orders." Glancing over, I saw Nami was crying over Luffy. Did her tears really not affect the cook at all?
Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out a cigarette and lit it with a flick of his lighter. He drew in a lungful of smoke and shakily exhaled it. There it was. His mask was slipping again—ever so slightly. "I want you out of here by tonight. All of you."
"So you're just going to pull a Nami? No goodbye? No thank you?"
Another exhale of smoke.
"No. Plan changed. I'm not coming back to the crew. I belong here."
"Bullshit." The word slipped out through gritted teeth. "Bullshit! What about The All Blue, huh?"
I whipped around at the chuckles from his brothers, the blue-haired one and the green-haired one. Redhair just sat back with a scowl. Pure hatred flooded my veins and I wanted nothing more than to kick their asses until every bone in their smug faces was turned into mush.
"Whatever they're doing to you, we'll help you," I whispered.
He coughed. Choking back a sob? The sound was too quiet for me to be sure.
"No. You'll get back on the Sunny and go on with your lives."
"Sanji...why?"
I turned to see Luffy struggling to sit up.
"You're hiding something. Whatever it is, we..." He paused to cough up blood. "We'll help you through it. I promise! Right, Zoro?" My captain's signature smile made my chest tighten. He wasn't going to give up on the cook, so neither was I.
"Right."
The chef growled. "Dammit, you stubborn assholes need to leave!"
I smirked. "You heard the captain."
He pfted and then crushed the worn-down butt of his cigarette under his foot before turning around. He gave me the middle finger. "Fuck you, shitty swordsman."
Instead of replying, I leaned back and waited for Luffy's next order. I was prepared to throw the blond asshole over my shoulder and carry him back to the Sunny if Luffy asked.
"Sanji."
We both turned in unison to look at Nami. Her face was set in a hard scowl. She was pissed.
"Nami." There was an unmistakable quiver in the cook's voice, no matter how hard he'd wanted to hide it. The opposite sex had always been a weakness of his. The fact he'd caused her pain probably crushed him inside.
"This is goodbye. I'm sorry we ever came here."
Slap!
The cook took a step back after taking the full force of a slap. Nami had put as much power as she could into that slap. It must have hurt like hell. What an idiot. I knew firsthand how good his observation haki was. He could've easily dodged that. Did he think he deserved it?
Wait, did Nami really think he was serious? That he really wanted to leave the crew and give up on his dream? No! He was obviously doing all this—acting like a huge asshole who thought pirates were beneath his status as the literal prince of dumbass kingdom—to protect us! In his own mind, he thought he was beneath us. I'd witnessed that in Thriller Bark. He'd wanted to give up his own life for Luffy's and he fully believed that the rest of us meant more.
That his life meant little to nothing at all.
That didn't just come from nowhere. Someone had put that thought in his head. Instinct told me that the big asshole in the carriage, his father, was the one to blame for that. He was the reason Sanji was going to sacrifice himself for us.
Judge Vinsmoke was the first one I was going to kill the first chance I got.
Author's note: So, as you might have guessed, I hate Sanji's family. Except Reiju. Reiju is bae. Please review and feel free to tell me how much you hate Sanji's family too!