(Untitled)

[threesword]

Who: Roronoa Zoro (threesword), Sanji (baratiesbest), Umi Ryuuzaki (embracethewaves)
Where: Outside the Northern Lights
When: August 11th, During the party at the lights
Rating: PG-13 at least :|
Summary: Things finally reach their breaking point between the two Straw Hats.
the log:

Comments

[baratiesbest]

Good question. What was he going to do about it? What could he do?

Nothing. The damage was already done, there was no way he could take that back and to be quite honest he wasn't entirely sure if he wanted to. He liked Anemone a lot and if she wasn't engaged this would have happened a long time ago, that much he was sure of. But as things were... there really was nothing he could do. Lay low. Pretend like nothing had happened. Talk it over with her, obviously, make sure she wouldn't get in trouble. But beyond that? Nothing.

When it came to Umi he could do even less. The three of them were locked in an impossible situation - Zoro wouldn't make a move for whatever shitty reasons he had, Sanji couldn't without risking his life and whatever friendship he could salvage with the idiot moss head. And Umi... he just didn't know. She seemed to like both of them, but how deep that ran only she could know. It was a pain, all of it and as long as things remained unchanged it would only get worse.

Either he had to give up the chase or Zoro had

[embracethewaves]

The chill that ran through her...definitely wasn't because of the cold. It was a sort of numbness, almost, something that caused her to shiver a bit.

You. That one little word was enough to render her speechless, to twist her stomach into knots. The static and animosity between them had been there -- that much she knew. But...because of her? She had never noticed. Or maybe she had never looked, never wanted to think about the possibility of something like this happening... It made her feel sick

[baratiesbest]

The slap caused the blonde's head to jerk to the side but apart from that he didn't move, just kept his eyes on anything but the other two - the white snake of smoke from the cigarette, the blood stained snow, the crumbling buildings. Anything. He couldn't look Umi in the eyes right now, if ever again.

They were idiots. Stubborn fucking morons. Cowards. And she got hurt by it.

Unforgivable.

The problem wasn't new, it had started the very day he arrived in Discedo and reached the first climax not even two months after that. The first day of the year, it had been cold just like today with the streets covered in snow. The damn marimo had almost killed him that day but they had worked through it somehow. Settled their differences. So much had happened since then, they were supposed to be different.

Yet here they were. Snow on the street and blood on his shirt and it was all so fucking familiar. Had they really gotten nowhere..? Or were they just too stupid to even attempt to really fix the problem? Quick solutions, temporary

[threesword]

Sting didn't begin to describe it. His face had hurt enough as it was - the slap was just an extra fiery sting that he could have done without. Face of the matter was though, he deserved it. Zoro knew that for all the trouble that had been caused from this situation, he'd probably deserved more than that. Umi could have kicked him square in the groin and pulled her sword against him and he wouldn't have been able to argue it. Nor was he going to try

[embracethewaves]

For a little while, Umi didn't know what else to say. She had said it all already -- or everything she could put into words, at least. The rest...was just an anxious feeling in her chest, that same knot in her stomach that wouldn't go away. She didn't know how to fix this. Hikaru's optimism had become something she cherished and held to, but she was beginning to wonder if things could ever be normal.

She was still a little angry. Angry at them for never saying anything, and at herself for casting a blind eye over the whole thing. For never noticing, for never changing... She hadn't forgotten what Zoro said, like he told her to. But she had let herself become preoccupied, and maybe now it was too late.

...She still didn't even know how to respond, though. Not really.

They were idiots, that was for sure -- but how much better was she, in that case? Not knowing her own feelings. Maybe not wanting to know. It was always something that had seemed so...foreign, and something she hadn't worried about. She hated that...they had determined

[baratiesbest]

"...you have nothing to apologize for, Miss."

He seemed to say that a lot lately. Sanji took one last shaky inhale on that burnt down cigarette before letting it fall in an attempt to seek some courage. Guidance. The silence was just as bad as it had been the past couple of months - always silent about what was important, bottling it up until they ended up where they were now.

Enough. They couldn't hide behind the bond of nakama or male pride or honor anymore. Umi had been hurt by it all and that was more than enough to call for retreat. He didn't deserve her after all, not after tonight. As much as it pained him to think it Zoro was by far the better choice - if she still wanted to be near either of them.

How difficult can it be to throw away your pride?!Not difficult at all when you've been doing it for all your life. Sanji swallowed, took a deep breath. Prepared. And when he finally spoke again his voice came out restrained, polite, almost cold

[threesword]

Everything Sanji said was true - well, to a certain extent. Was the chef really taking the fall for something that had been an equal mistake on both their parts

[embracethewaves]

The mood had changed a bit, and Umi was afraid that the relationship between all three of them might have, as well. For good, maybe...? It was something she didn't want -- trying to picture her life, without either of them... The week that Sanji had been gone had showed her that it was tough. She and Zoro had been able to manage, but it made things seem...strange. Trying to imagine living without either of them -- it made her heart hurt in no small amount

[baratiesbest]

The reply shouldn't have come as a surprise but it did and Sanji couldn't help but laugh, a low awkward sound somewhere between a cough and a chuckle. This was fucking hilarious when you thought about it - the whole reason why they had kept quiet was because she had the right to choose. That was what the shitty mari- Zoro had said all along. She didn't need the trouble, if she wanted it she could take it but for now they had to lay low. And he had listened like the goddamn moron he was

[threesword]

That was what he'd been saying along - that it should have been her decision to make. That when it came down to it, she was the only one who really even had a right to decide. But yet, here the two Straw Hats were, putting that thought aside completely for their own selfish reasons.

They were pirates. Of course they did things selfishly - but this was the one time that they shouldn't have and Zoro knew that. And he knew that Sanji, better than anyone, did too. That's why it didn't really surprise him very much when the blonde was the first to ask the question

[embracethewaves]

Talking tough was easy...it was, regrettably, something Umi was very good at. A certain level of confidence in her words.

She could say over and over that she wanted to be able to make her own decision. Coming down to that final question, though, the all important one...it was honestly something she didn't know how to answer. What did she want? Of all the things in the world they could have asked...it was the one thing she couldn't answer. Now it was Umi who didn't meet their eyes, looking down at the snow.

No matter what she said, would one of them end up hurt because of it? That, she knew she didn't want. She knew she didn't want them to fight like this anymore, but also that she didn't want either of them to disappear from her life. She knew that, ideally, someday she would like to fall in love...but that always seemed like a distant dream. Something for the future. Even if it was something to think about now, was it worth this much conflict

[baratiesbest]

Stop fighting.Sanji had to admit that he wanted the exact same thing - to go back to how it was back home or even just on the good days here. The spar outside of the hospital that second time... that had been good. Fun. The way things should be and he desperately wanted to return to that

[threesword]

Zoro wanted it too. He wanted the crew to be what it used to be. That included how things were between he and Sanji. He hated fighting like this - like they were sworn enemies. Like the cook was nothing more than Arlong, or one of the weirdos from Baroque Works. They were more than that - this needed to stop. Whether or not that could could be mended, Zoro wasn't sure

[embracethewaves]

Umi didn't realize she had been holding her breath until she exhaled, hadn't realized the tension she held in her body until it dissipated all at once. She should have known better than to expect them to scold her -- that wasn't how Sanji and Zoro worked. Guru Clef, maybe...or Caldina certainly would have. But not them

[baratiesbest]

Sanji was still not sure what had really happened here tonight - there had been enough drama for a lifetime, that much was certain but beyond that there was still far too much to process. But they seemed to come out of it okay, if a little worse for wear both physically and emotionally. As for this whole arrangement... he really didn't know what he was getting himself into. Uncharted territory, but wasn't that what being a pirate was all about? It seemed strange and unnatural, bizarre even but if it meant peace between the two Strawhats and keeping Umi in his life? He'd just have to deal with it, didn't he?

He let out a sigh of relief, followed by a suppressed wince as he realized just how badly those wounds hurt. Getting somewhere relatively warm and dry seemed like a great idea, he definitely didn't want to catch something by standing out in the cold.

"That sounds like an excellent idea."

Flicking away the burnt down cigarette (third tonight, damn) he smiled, a little weak and hesitant but still a smile.

"And thank you."

[threesword]

It had definitely been more than a surprise for everyone involved. Zoro went into this night not expecting anything. He came out of it much more bloody then he'd planned. But maybe things wouldn't be so bad in the long run.

Obviously, he could see where things could possibly go wrong. But this felt like a step in the right direction. It would be difficult, but he did want to mend things between himself and Sanji, and if this is what was going to help, by all means, he was going to try his damnedest to make it work.

"Yeah..." Was all Zoro could manage to sputter out right then. All his wounds were beginning to throb hard again, and he could feel the blood loss going to his head.

He was tired.

The swordsman would have said more, but before he even had the chance, he'd gone into collapse, crashing against the cold, snowy pavement like a ton of bricks.