One Piece - Prompt #5: Delusional
Title: Lose Your Delusion
Fandom: One Piece
Characters: Sanji, Zeff, Gin, Luffy, mentions of Don Krieg
Prompt: Table #3, Prompt #5 (Delusional)
Word Count: 584
Rating: PG
Summary: "Getting killed is no way to repay your debt!"
Disclaimer: I own nothing.
Lose Your Delusion
Getting killed is no way to repay your debt!
At first, Sanji doesn't see any other way out of the situation, and he can't help but remember the rock that he and Zeff been stranded on all of those years ago. He recalls the sunken eyes and the hints of hopelessness and desperation in his voice, and he sees the blood (so much blood, so much blood) from the lost foot--and Sanji knows that he needs to keep Zeff alive, because the chef wants to keep feeding all of the hungry pirates that visit his restaurant (because no one deserves to starve like they had, no matter how unredeemable they are) and he needs to keep the other dream alive (because the All Blue exists, no matter what anyone says).
And so, Sanji allows himself to be beaten and bruised and broken (because his worthless life just isn't worth it) and he allows death to come closer to him with every passing hit, with every passing second. And he knows that if he continues to do nothing, he'll die and have no way to change anything--but if he fights back just once, the trigger will be pulled and the old crap-geezer's life is gone, and that can't happen.
It just can't.
He didn't save your life so you could throw it away!
Somehow, Sanji's still alive and he's fighting again. He's not worried about the ship's safety anymore, because the boy in the straw hat can take care of that so very easily while he does nothing, and so, he doesn't know why he's kicking and moving and tearing Gin apart. The chance that he will die is still present and he doesn't care, as long as Zeff keeps his ship in the end, as long as Zeff is able to continue doing what he loves the most.
When the time comes for him to perish, Gin doesn't go through with his final attack, and Sanji realizes that his life has been saved twice now, and he doesn't really know what to think. He doesn't have the chance to figure out what he wants to believe because then the poison gas comes to make its move, and he takes a mask and sees Gin do so, too, and he thinks that they'll be all right.
But he knows that Gin isn't all right when he feels his mask pressed against his face and when he hears someone cry that Gin had thrown his mask away so carelessly. He knows that Gin isn't all right when he can see again, when he sees Gin's bloodshot eyes and his struggle to breath, when he sees the demon man cough up blood, which should be keeping him alive and breathing but instead is destroying him on the inside.
As he screams and screams the man's name over and over again, Sanji doesn't understand. Why would Gin do this when he had been given a free meal so he would no longer be starving, even when he had nothing to pay with? Why would Gin do this when he sacrificed himself and saved another life and still had a chance to escape safely? Why would he give in to his boss's untruthful and betraying words?
And suddenly, he realizes that it's just what he had done not too long ago.
And it's only then that Sanji understands and allows himself to breathe, allows himself to feel his heart beating and still be thankful for it all.
Fandom: One Piece
Characters: Sanji, Zeff, Gin, Luffy, mentions of Don Krieg
Prompt: Table #3, Prompt #5 (Delusional)
Word Count: 584
Rating: PG
Summary: "Getting killed is no way to repay your debt!"
Disclaimer: I own nothing.
Lose Your Delusion
Getting killed is no way to repay your debt!
At first, Sanji doesn't see any other way out of the situation, and he can't help but remember the rock that he and Zeff been stranded on all of those years ago. He recalls the sunken eyes and the hints of hopelessness and desperation in his voice, and he sees the blood (so much blood, so much blood) from the lost foot--and Sanji knows that he needs to keep Zeff alive, because the chef wants to keep feeding all of the hungry pirates that visit his restaurant (because no one deserves to starve like they had, no matter how unredeemable they are) and he needs to keep the other dream alive (because the All Blue exists, no matter what anyone says).
And so, Sanji allows himself to be beaten and bruised and broken (because his worthless life just isn't worth it) and he allows death to come closer to him with every passing hit, with every passing second. And he knows that if he continues to do nothing, he'll die and have no way to change anything--but if he fights back just once, the trigger will be pulled and the old crap-geezer's life is gone, and that can't happen.
It just can't.
He didn't save your life so you could throw it away!
Somehow, Sanji's still alive and he's fighting again. He's not worried about the ship's safety anymore, because the boy in the straw hat can take care of that so very easily while he does nothing, and so, he doesn't know why he's kicking and moving and tearing Gin apart. The chance that he will die is still present and he doesn't care, as long as Zeff keeps his ship in the end, as long as Zeff is able to continue doing what he loves the most.
When the time comes for him to perish, Gin doesn't go through with his final attack, and Sanji realizes that his life has been saved twice now, and he doesn't really know what to think. He doesn't have the chance to figure out what he wants to believe because then the poison gas comes to make its move, and he takes a mask and sees Gin do so, too, and he thinks that they'll be all right.
But he knows that Gin isn't all right when he feels his mask pressed against his face and when he hears someone cry that Gin had thrown his mask away so carelessly. He knows that Gin isn't all right when he can see again, when he sees Gin's bloodshot eyes and his struggle to breath, when he sees the demon man cough up blood, which should be keeping him alive and breathing but instead is destroying him on the inside.
As he screams and screams the man's name over and over again, Sanji doesn't understand. Why would Gin do this when he had been given a free meal so he would no longer be starving, even when he had nothing to pay with? Why would Gin do this when he sacrificed himself and saved another life and still had a chance to escape safely? Why would he give in to his boss's untruthful and betraying words?
And suddenly, he realizes that it's just what he had done not too long ago.
And it's only then that Sanji understands and allows himself to breathe, allows himself to feel his heart beating and still be thankful for it all.