Op fic: Once More With Feeling - Day 6
I finally realized I won't be able to do anything else until I finish this, so here we go. Almost done, next bit will follow like really soon.
Title: Once more with feeling - Day 6
Author: aviss
Pairing: Zoro/+Sanji
Rating: R
Genre: Drama, Angst, Horror.
Warning: Violence, character deaths (only not)
Disclaimer: So disclaimed.
Summary: Sanji is given a second chance to set things right. And a third. And a fourth…
Word Count: ~2.500 this part
Day 1
Day 2
Day 3
Day 4
Day 5
Day 6
"Oi Cook, you fell asleep in the galley again and it's your watch now," Zoro said his voice a gruff whisper.
"Go to sleep you dumbass, I'm awake," Sanji whispered not looking up.
Sanji didn't even bother to stand up from the bench, what was the point? It would get the same results if he stayed there all day long and waited for death. It was going to come anyway and nothing Sanji did was going to change that.
"Oi Cook, what are you doing? Move it!" Zoro said, his stare so intense Sanji could feel it almost like a touch on the back of his neck.
He sighed tiredly and stood up, ignoring Zoro completely and going straight to the Crow's Nest.
He didn't have the energy to argue with the marimo, he didn't have the energy to do anything, if truth be told. He just wanted to close his eyes and sleep forever.
Getting angry at the world for the unfairness of everything accomplished nothing and used up more energy than Sanji could spare at the time. He felt as if just breathing took an immense toll on him.
And he still had two days more to endure.
He sat down and closed his eyes not wanting to look out and see the bad omen reflected bloodily on the black waters. He already knew it meant death.
He didn't know what to do anymore and was already past the point where it mattered. He didn't have time to think; now it was the time to act. But he had no bleeding clue of how.
He never imagined a day would come where he'd give up on something important.
But was else could he do? Everything he tried failed and the only thing he had accomplished in the past few days was to see his friends die again and again. He knew by heart now everyone's expressions when the light went out of their eyes. Usopp's surprised face, Nami's anguished one, Robin's desperate, Franky's pained and Zoro's horrified. He had been spared the other three but his mind was more than happy to supply it for him.
Sanji knew if he ever got to sleep again he was going to see them in his nightmares forever.
Not that he believed he could survive. He was convinced they weren't going to. And he was too fucking tired and heartsick to get angry with Death anymore: it wasn't her fault she had picked the wrong one to give this chance to.
She should have chosen Zoro.
The marimo, suicidal idiot that he was, had at least saved his nakama when push came to shove. It was more than could be said for Sanji.
He felt a hysterical laugh bubbling up inside of him and forced himself to calm down. He really wasn't strong enough and his nakama were the ones paying the price. Talk about irony.
He was envious of Zoro for doing what he couldn't; he must have lost it completely.
He closed his eyes, feeling the sting of unshed tears, and took several deep breaths. Robin was about to arrive, it wouldn't do to have her see him in that state.
The day had barely started and he was already like this.
It was going to be a hell of a long day.
…
When the storm was finally over, the sea calm and placid as if nothing had ever happened there, Sanji let himself slide on to the deck and closed his eyes for a second, breathing deeply.
He knew he had to go and start dinner but there was no point in it, was there? He was never going to finish it. There was no hurry, he could take a breather out here with his crew mates before going to kitchen, or he could just put off going inside for one day.
No one was going to know the difference.
The sound of his nakama's voices filled the silence left in the wake of the wind and rain after a few minutes, all of them cheerful and so very alive it broke Sanji's heart to know the laughs would turn into screams soon enough. Yeah, he would just stay there and soak in their happiness-filled voices while he could.
"What's wrong Zoro?" Luffy's voice called Sanji attention back to the present and he opened one eye lazily.
Zoro was standing in front of him, staring at Sanji with an alien expression on his face.
Oh right, Sanji thought idly, of course the one to notice had to be the marimo.
"Got a problem, Marimo?" Sanji asked, not moving from his spot on the deck.
Zoro stared at him intently, his brow creased by a thin line and his lips pressed tightly together. He tilted his head to the side, still studying Sanji, and then looked at the galley. His gesture seemed to say Sanji should be somewhere else but there were no words coming from his mouth.
"Sanji I'm starving!" Luffy said from somewhere behind Zoro, his voice full of eagerness and not a little pleading. "Are you going to make dinner?"
Sanji resisted the urge to sigh loudly and pushed himself up, dusting off his suit and stretching his tired body. "Right now, Luffy," he said looking at his Captain and returning the brilliant smile flashed at him with a pale imitation of his own.
He hoped Luffy wouldn't notice.
"I want meat!"
"You always do," Sanji said turning around with a last look at the still unmoving marimo and heading to the kitchen.
Zoro entered right after him and took what Sanji privately thought as his usual sit at the table, staring silently at him with the closed bottle of rum next to his hand. Sanji ignored him while he took out the vegetables and the meat. Under normal circumstances he would never use food he knew was not going to be consumed, but this was far from normal.
And besides, nobody could expect him to stay calm and composed with Zoro staring at him in that way. He needed to do something with his hands.
After a few seconds of uncomfortable silence Sanji turned to look at him, "Look Marimo, whatever it is you want to talk about I don't care," he said in a low voice, barely audible in the silent kitchen. "Take your booze and get out."
"Something bothering you, Cook?" Zoro said, persistent as only the little bugger could be.
Sanji sighed tiredly. "No, nothing is fucking bothering me but you right now," he said shaking his head, "I'm exhausted and the day is not over yet, I don't want to have the same stupid conversation again and again," he turned his back to Zoro and waited for him to leave so he could just rest for a few minutes before the last part of the show started.
Zoro didn't move. "No, you have been staring at me since I woke up two days ago," Zoro insisted. "Is there something you wanna tell me?"
Sanji rolled his eyes this time. Fucking stubborn Marimo.
"Can we not do this now?" he muttered under his breath. "Look Zoro, just leave me alone for a second, ok? We'll repeat this tomorrow so I don't see the point right now."
Zoro stared at him as if he had lost his mind, which thinking about it was not so far off the mark. He certainly felt as if he had.
"You're acting weird, Cook."
"Yes, I know. Now fuck off from here," he said finally raising his voice, his patience with Zoro running out.
Zoro glared at him and stubbornly refused to move.
"Oh, for fuck's sake! Do you want to have the conversation about Kuma now? You win, we'll have it," Sanji dropped his knives on the counter and walked up to the marimo. "Do you want me to tell you what a stupid, completely retarded, suicidal bastard you are? Because I thought you were one before. But not now, now I understand you and I'd do the same if given the chance!"
Zoro smirked, "You tried."
"I know." He closed his eyes wondering why he even bothered. Of course he had tried, but unlike Zoro he failed. He kept failing. Was there a point to keep trying if he was not to succeed? "Just go Zoro, I'm tired of this endless conversation."
"What are you--?"
"Pirates!"
Sanji opened his eyes again and he must have looked pretty bad at the moment because Zoro's smirk vanished, replaced by something like concern.
"Time's up," he said, and he forced his body to move outside, each step feeling like something was being torn inside of him.
He really didn't want to go, but what else could he do?
…
Sanji watched the fight proceed with disinterest, feeling oddly detached from the events taking place around him. He didn't even care about the damage done to his body, nor had he asked Nami to help with the fog.
It wouldn't make any difference. It hadn't before.
Zoro thudded against the railing next to Sanji, the wind knocked out of him from a blow. He turned to look at Sanji with the most incredulous expression he had even seen, "What the fuck are you doing Cook?" he shouted, parrying and invisible blow with his sword.
Sanji looked at him and shrugged, lighting a cigarette and taking a long draw, choking on the smoke when something hit him in the stomach.
"Nothing," he said when he got his breath back, "it won't change the outcome, so I'm not going to even bother."
The next hit he saw but didn't bother to dodge either, Zoro's punch almost enough to make him topple overboard.
"Fucking shitty cook, what's your problem?" Zoro shouted in his face, the anger and worry coming from him almost tangible. He grabbed Sanji's lapels and bodily moved him away from the railing a second before a bullet hit the wood where he had been.
Sanji let himself be manhandled that way, not fighting against Zoro for the first time in his life. The last one too at the rate things were moving.
That thought alone was enough to make him bark a laugh, the sound so brittle it made his own flesh crawl.
He was officially insane.
Around them the sounds of the fight were raising in pitch, the screams turning more desperate by the second. A gunshot tore the air at Sanji's back and he sighed.
"There goes Usopp," he said under his breath and Zoro looked at him with horror, his eyes darting between Sanji's face and the place where Usopp had fallen.
"What?"
"You're next," Sanji said eyes shinning with madness. Zoro visibly flinched and tried to move away from him.
Sanji's hands moved of their own accord, fisting on Zoro's shirt and keeping him close. He didn't know what strange impulse made him do that, and had no idea of what he was going to do next until he leaned forward and pressed him mouth against Zoro's.
It was brief and clumsy, and could hardly be considered a kiss. Zoro's lips tasted of blood and his expression was one Sanji had never seen. Maybe he was also a little insane.
Sanji laughed again.
"Goodbye Zoro," he said releasing him. Zoro fell on top on Sanji first, his eyes closing a he slid down, finally resting on the deck.
Sanji took a step back and turned to lean against the railing again, facing the ship. He looked around and saw he was, like every other time, the last one standing.
And now it was his turn to die.
Just one more day and he would never have to see this again.
He felt the pain of the shot at the same time he heard it, his eyes closing of their own accord. He forced them open again, wanting to see the moment when Death would come for him.
He wanted to tell her she had won; she could take him whenever she wanted. The sooner the better.
One more day of this was one day too many.
She appeared, her form materializing on the deck and Sanji saw surprised how the hooded figured vanished at the same time. As if they couldn't share the same space. He listened to see if he could catch the sound of the other things and noticed that he was indeed alone with her.
Oh shit.
He was really an idiot!
A humourless laugh bubbled up inside him and Sanji pressed his lips together to keep it locked. He knew that if he let it out he might not come back from that dark and empty place he had spent the day in.
It was time to come back to his senses.
He'd finally figured it out.
…
"You are the way to stop them, are you not?" Sanji asked looking at the woman, finally understanding. It was easy to see once you knew where to look for the clues but it had taken him all that time to notice.
Yes, she smiled turning into the beautiful young girl again.
"What are those hooded things?"
Nothing but shadows. Petty tricks to distract you so you won't see the real enemy. The one leading them, he's is the dangerous one.
Sanji took a cigarette from his pocket with his good hand, put it in his mouth and lit it enjoying the nicotine and the knowledge that he was going to win. He finally knew how.
"I've never seen anything but them."
I know. He doesn't show himself, not if he can help it. But he's there, in the Black Ship, collecting souls that don't belong to him.
Sanji smiled. "But not mine."
Yours is mine, I marked you the first night.
Sanji nodded taking a drag of his cigarette. "Why?"
The girl approached him, crouching in front of his body and extending her hand to touch his face. It went through it but Sanji could swear he felt a hint of warmness. Once he was one of ours--my brother--but he wasn't satisfied with the lives he took and soon started hungering for more. He had to be punished, but we only managed to seal him within the Triangle under the curse of the red moon, limit the souls he has access to and hope we can help those he gets his hands to.
"I see."
You're not angry or scared, she said softly, smiling.
Sanji laughed, a sound so alien after the desperation of the last days he thought it might come from someone else. "You're giving me the chance to save my nakama."
At a price.
Sanji looked around at the bleak scene, the corpses and empty spaces left around the Sunny. He looked at Zoro's body and was grateful the marimo wouldn't remember what he had done.
Everything was going to be fine and they'd never need to know the cost.
"Cheap."
She smiled and Sanji closed his eyes.
Somehow he couldn't wait for morning to come.
…
Day 7
Title: Once more with feeling - Day 6
Author: aviss
Pairing: Zoro/+Sanji
Rating: R
Genre: Drama, Angst, Horror.
Warning: Violence, character deaths (only not)
Disclaimer: So disclaimed.
Summary: Sanji is given a second chance to set things right. And a third. And a fourth…
Word Count: ~2.500 this part
Day 1
Day 2
Day 3
Day 4
Day 5
Day 6
"Oi Cook, you fell asleep in the galley again and it's your watch now," Zoro said his voice a gruff whisper.
"Go to sleep you dumbass, I'm awake," Sanji whispered not looking up.
Sanji didn't even bother to stand up from the bench, what was the point? It would get the same results if he stayed there all day long and waited for death. It was going to come anyway and nothing Sanji did was going to change that.
"Oi Cook, what are you doing? Move it!" Zoro said, his stare so intense Sanji could feel it almost like a touch on the back of his neck.
He sighed tiredly and stood up, ignoring Zoro completely and going straight to the Crow's Nest.
He didn't have the energy to argue with the marimo, he didn't have the energy to do anything, if truth be told. He just wanted to close his eyes and sleep forever.
Getting angry at the world for the unfairness of everything accomplished nothing and used up more energy than Sanji could spare at the time. He felt as if just breathing took an immense toll on him.
And he still had two days more to endure.
He sat down and closed his eyes not wanting to look out and see the bad omen reflected bloodily on the black waters. He already knew it meant death.
He didn't know what to do anymore and was already past the point where it mattered. He didn't have time to think; now it was the time to act. But he had no bleeding clue of how.
He never imagined a day would come where he'd give up on something important.
But was else could he do? Everything he tried failed and the only thing he had accomplished in the past few days was to see his friends die again and again. He knew by heart now everyone's expressions when the light went out of their eyes. Usopp's surprised face, Nami's anguished one, Robin's desperate, Franky's pained and Zoro's horrified. He had been spared the other three but his mind was more than happy to supply it for him.
Sanji knew if he ever got to sleep again he was going to see them in his nightmares forever.
Not that he believed he could survive. He was convinced they weren't going to. And he was too fucking tired and heartsick to get angry with Death anymore: it wasn't her fault she had picked the wrong one to give this chance to.
She should have chosen Zoro.
The marimo, suicidal idiot that he was, had at least saved his nakama when push came to shove. It was more than could be said for Sanji.
He felt a hysterical laugh bubbling up inside of him and forced himself to calm down. He really wasn't strong enough and his nakama were the ones paying the price. Talk about irony.
He was envious of Zoro for doing what he couldn't; he must have lost it completely.
He closed his eyes, feeling the sting of unshed tears, and took several deep breaths. Robin was about to arrive, it wouldn't do to have her see him in that state.
The day had barely started and he was already like this.
It was going to be a hell of a long day.
…
When the storm was finally over, the sea calm and placid as if nothing had ever happened there, Sanji let himself slide on to the deck and closed his eyes for a second, breathing deeply.
He knew he had to go and start dinner but there was no point in it, was there? He was never going to finish it. There was no hurry, he could take a breather out here with his crew mates before going to kitchen, or he could just put off going inside for one day.
No one was going to know the difference.
The sound of his nakama's voices filled the silence left in the wake of the wind and rain after a few minutes, all of them cheerful and so very alive it broke Sanji's heart to know the laughs would turn into screams soon enough. Yeah, he would just stay there and soak in their happiness-filled voices while he could.
"What's wrong Zoro?" Luffy's voice called Sanji attention back to the present and he opened one eye lazily.
Zoro was standing in front of him, staring at Sanji with an alien expression on his face.
Oh right, Sanji thought idly, of course the one to notice had to be the marimo.
"Got a problem, Marimo?" Sanji asked, not moving from his spot on the deck.
Zoro stared at him intently, his brow creased by a thin line and his lips pressed tightly together. He tilted his head to the side, still studying Sanji, and then looked at the galley. His gesture seemed to say Sanji should be somewhere else but there were no words coming from his mouth.
"Sanji I'm starving!" Luffy said from somewhere behind Zoro, his voice full of eagerness and not a little pleading. "Are you going to make dinner?"
Sanji resisted the urge to sigh loudly and pushed himself up, dusting off his suit and stretching his tired body. "Right now, Luffy," he said looking at his Captain and returning the brilliant smile flashed at him with a pale imitation of his own.
He hoped Luffy wouldn't notice.
"I want meat!"
"You always do," Sanji said turning around with a last look at the still unmoving marimo and heading to the kitchen.
Zoro entered right after him and took what Sanji privately thought as his usual sit at the table, staring silently at him with the closed bottle of rum next to his hand. Sanji ignored him while he took out the vegetables and the meat. Under normal circumstances he would never use food he knew was not going to be consumed, but this was far from normal.
And besides, nobody could expect him to stay calm and composed with Zoro staring at him in that way. He needed to do something with his hands.
After a few seconds of uncomfortable silence Sanji turned to look at him, "Look Marimo, whatever it is you want to talk about I don't care," he said in a low voice, barely audible in the silent kitchen. "Take your booze and get out."
"Something bothering you, Cook?" Zoro said, persistent as only the little bugger could be.
Sanji sighed tiredly. "No, nothing is fucking bothering me but you right now," he said shaking his head, "I'm exhausted and the day is not over yet, I don't want to have the same stupid conversation again and again," he turned his back to Zoro and waited for him to leave so he could just rest for a few minutes before the last part of the show started.
Zoro didn't move. "No, you have been staring at me since I woke up two days ago," Zoro insisted. "Is there something you wanna tell me?"
Sanji rolled his eyes this time. Fucking stubborn Marimo.
"Can we not do this now?" he muttered under his breath. "Look Zoro, just leave me alone for a second, ok? We'll repeat this tomorrow so I don't see the point right now."
Zoro stared at him as if he had lost his mind, which thinking about it was not so far off the mark. He certainly felt as if he had.
"You're acting weird, Cook."
"Yes, I know. Now fuck off from here," he said finally raising his voice, his patience with Zoro running out.
Zoro glared at him and stubbornly refused to move.
"Oh, for fuck's sake! Do you want to have the conversation about Kuma now? You win, we'll have it," Sanji dropped his knives on the counter and walked up to the marimo. "Do you want me to tell you what a stupid, completely retarded, suicidal bastard you are? Because I thought you were one before. But not now, now I understand you and I'd do the same if given the chance!"
Zoro smirked, "You tried."
"I know." He closed his eyes wondering why he even bothered. Of course he had tried, but unlike Zoro he failed. He kept failing. Was there a point to keep trying if he was not to succeed? "Just go Zoro, I'm tired of this endless conversation."
"What are you--?"
"Pirates!"
Sanji opened his eyes again and he must have looked pretty bad at the moment because Zoro's smirk vanished, replaced by something like concern.
"Time's up," he said, and he forced his body to move outside, each step feeling like something was being torn inside of him.
He really didn't want to go, but what else could he do?
…
Sanji watched the fight proceed with disinterest, feeling oddly detached from the events taking place around him. He didn't even care about the damage done to his body, nor had he asked Nami to help with the fog.
It wouldn't make any difference. It hadn't before.
Zoro thudded against the railing next to Sanji, the wind knocked out of him from a blow. He turned to look at Sanji with the most incredulous expression he had even seen, "What the fuck are you doing Cook?" he shouted, parrying and invisible blow with his sword.
Sanji looked at him and shrugged, lighting a cigarette and taking a long draw, choking on the smoke when something hit him in the stomach.
"Nothing," he said when he got his breath back, "it won't change the outcome, so I'm not going to even bother."
The next hit he saw but didn't bother to dodge either, Zoro's punch almost enough to make him topple overboard.
"Fucking shitty cook, what's your problem?" Zoro shouted in his face, the anger and worry coming from him almost tangible. He grabbed Sanji's lapels and bodily moved him away from the railing a second before a bullet hit the wood where he had been.
Sanji let himself be manhandled that way, not fighting against Zoro for the first time in his life. The last one too at the rate things were moving.
That thought alone was enough to make him bark a laugh, the sound so brittle it made his own flesh crawl.
He was officially insane.
Around them the sounds of the fight were raising in pitch, the screams turning more desperate by the second. A gunshot tore the air at Sanji's back and he sighed.
"There goes Usopp," he said under his breath and Zoro looked at him with horror, his eyes darting between Sanji's face and the place where Usopp had fallen.
"What?"
"You're next," Sanji said eyes shinning with madness. Zoro visibly flinched and tried to move away from him.
Sanji's hands moved of their own accord, fisting on Zoro's shirt and keeping him close. He didn't know what strange impulse made him do that, and had no idea of what he was going to do next until he leaned forward and pressed him mouth against Zoro's.
It was brief and clumsy, and could hardly be considered a kiss. Zoro's lips tasted of blood and his expression was one Sanji had never seen. Maybe he was also a little insane.
Sanji laughed again.
"Goodbye Zoro," he said releasing him. Zoro fell on top on Sanji first, his eyes closing a he slid down, finally resting on the deck.
Sanji took a step back and turned to lean against the railing again, facing the ship. He looked around and saw he was, like every other time, the last one standing.
And now it was his turn to die.
Just one more day and he would never have to see this again.
He felt the pain of the shot at the same time he heard it, his eyes closing of their own accord. He forced them open again, wanting to see the moment when Death would come for him.
He wanted to tell her she had won; she could take him whenever she wanted. The sooner the better.
One more day of this was one day too many.
She appeared, her form materializing on the deck and Sanji saw surprised how the hooded figured vanished at the same time. As if they couldn't share the same space. He listened to see if he could catch the sound of the other things and noticed that he was indeed alone with her.
Oh shit.
He was really an idiot!
A humourless laugh bubbled up inside him and Sanji pressed his lips together to keep it locked. He knew that if he let it out he might not come back from that dark and empty place he had spent the day in.
It was time to come back to his senses.
He'd finally figured it out.
…
"You are the way to stop them, are you not?" Sanji asked looking at the woman, finally understanding. It was easy to see once you knew where to look for the clues but it had taken him all that time to notice.
Yes, she smiled turning into the beautiful young girl again.
"What are those hooded things?"
Nothing but shadows. Petty tricks to distract you so you won't see the real enemy. The one leading them, he's is the dangerous one.
Sanji took a cigarette from his pocket with his good hand, put it in his mouth and lit it enjoying the nicotine and the knowledge that he was going to win. He finally knew how.
"I've never seen anything but them."
I know. He doesn't show himself, not if he can help it. But he's there, in the Black Ship, collecting souls that don't belong to him.
Sanji smiled. "But not mine."
Yours is mine, I marked you the first night.
Sanji nodded taking a drag of his cigarette. "Why?"
The girl approached him, crouching in front of his body and extending her hand to touch his face. It went through it but Sanji could swear he felt a hint of warmness. Once he was one of ours--my brother--but he wasn't satisfied with the lives he took and soon started hungering for more. He had to be punished, but we only managed to seal him within the Triangle under the curse of the red moon, limit the souls he has access to and hope we can help those he gets his hands to.
"I see."
You're not angry or scared, she said softly, smiling.
Sanji laughed, a sound so alien after the desperation of the last days he thought it might come from someone else. "You're giving me the chance to save my nakama."
At a price.
Sanji looked around at the bleak scene, the corpses and empty spaces left around the Sunny. He looked at Zoro's body and was grateful the marimo wouldn't remember what he had done.
Everything was going to be fine and they'd never need to know the cost.
"Cheap."
She smiled and Sanji closed his eyes.
Somehow he couldn't wait for morning to come.
…
Day 7