New Life
folder
+M to R › One Piece
Rating:
Adult ++
Chapters:
22
Views:
8,797
Reviews:
30
Recommended:
0
Currently Reading:
0
Category:
+M to R › One Piece
Rating:
Adult ++
Chapters:
22
Views:
8,797
Reviews:
30
Recommended:
0
Currently Reading:
0
Disclaimer:
I do not own One Piece, nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.
Chapter 19.2
Title: New Life: Chapter 19.2
Author: Genuinelie(s)
Rating: PG
Disclaimer: Not mine.
Author's note: One more chapter after this.
*****
The sky was clear the next day as the neared the edge of All Blue.
It was a three-hour journey through the storm's territory, however, and Sanji hadn't forgotten how suddenly the storm could come.
It had been a clear day the last time, too.
Zoro had not brought up his meeting with Mihawk to anyone, Sanji included. If Sanji didn't know better, he would have thought it had been just a dream. But the swordsman was subtly different in his manner the next morning, a slight smile gracing the corners of his usually stoic countenance. It was enough to assure Sanji that the strange confrontation had taken place.
He would have to ask Zoro, someday, just what had happened in that month after he had won and taken his proper title. The month he had spent just hanging out with Hawk-Eyed Mihawk.
Sanji doubted very much that another man would have survived.
Luffy and his two crews had held a council of sorts for the entire day, deciding on what they would do after dropping Sanji at his restaurant. Albeit a council that had included much rum, several good-spirited fistfights and bouts of tickling doled out by Robin to the reindeer and Luffy, just to keep them in line.
Eventually it was decided that the crew would try to make it back out of All Blue before the storm, which meant a very, very short stay at The Restaurant of Three Swords. The problem was that Usopp had his wife at home, and neither Nami nor Chopper had planned for such a long absence. Months would be too long for them to wait.
After that, however, it sounded like Nami and the little doctor might just be ready to rejoin their captain on the seas. No promises were made, but Sanji could see the same light shining from their eyes that he had felt after taking one again to the water.
No one asked Sanji what he would do. Zoro had stayed silent throughout the entire exchange.
Robin as well. Sanji remembered her telling him the morning he had found her in his room that she could promise him no more than a year. He hadn't asked why, and he still didn't feel it was his right, but that year was fast approaching.
Nothing was as simple as it had been. It wasn't enough anymore that they were friends. With their dreams the single road they had walked down split into many separate paths, and though they had crossed Sanji knew they'd never truly join.
Sanji almost wished they could go back, all the way, through all the hardship and heartache and laughter and unfulfilled dreams, to the very beginning.
Suddenly he was aware of eyes on him. Looking up, across the circle of his nakama, he saw Zoro looking at him, his expression open, his eyes intense. They both asked if he was all right and contained amusement that Sanji was dreaming once again.
Always a dreamer, Zeff had said.
And suddenly, Sanji didn't want to go back quite so much.
Yes, things had changed. Some things were lost. Some people were lost.
But some things were gained.
Sanji smirked at the swordsman. Zoro raised a green eyebrow, a corner of his mouth quirking up. A look that was clearly a promise and a challenge.
Maybe, Sanji thought, he had finally had enough of his dreams.
Maybe, finally, he was ready for his life.
His new life.
Whatever that might bring.
*****
Author: Genuinelie(s)
Rating: PG
Disclaimer: Not mine.
Author's note: One more chapter after this.
*****
The sky was clear the next day as the neared the edge of All Blue.
It was a three-hour journey through the storm's territory, however, and Sanji hadn't forgotten how suddenly the storm could come.
It had been a clear day the last time, too.
Zoro had not brought up his meeting with Mihawk to anyone, Sanji included. If Sanji didn't know better, he would have thought it had been just a dream. But the swordsman was subtly different in his manner the next morning, a slight smile gracing the corners of his usually stoic countenance. It was enough to assure Sanji that the strange confrontation had taken place.
He would have to ask Zoro, someday, just what had happened in that month after he had won and taken his proper title. The month he had spent just hanging out with Hawk-Eyed Mihawk.
Sanji doubted very much that another man would have survived.
Luffy and his two crews had held a council of sorts for the entire day, deciding on what they would do after dropping Sanji at his restaurant. Albeit a council that had included much rum, several good-spirited fistfights and bouts of tickling doled out by Robin to the reindeer and Luffy, just to keep them in line.
Eventually it was decided that the crew would try to make it back out of All Blue before the storm, which meant a very, very short stay at The Restaurant of Three Swords. The problem was that Usopp had his wife at home, and neither Nami nor Chopper had planned for such a long absence. Months would be too long for them to wait.
After that, however, it sounded like Nami and the little doctor might just be ready to rejoin their captain on the seas. No promises were made, but Sanji could see the same light shining from their eyes that he had felt after taking one again to the water.
No one asked Sanji what he would do. Zoro had stayed silent throughout the entire exchange.
Robin as well. Sanji remembered her telling him the morning he had found her in his room that she could promise him no more than a year. He hadn't asked why, and he still didn't feel it was his right, but that year was fast approaching.
Nothing was as simple as it had been. It wasn't enough anymore that they were friends. With their dreams the single road they had walked down split into many separate paths, and though they had crossed Sanji knew they'd never truly join.
Sanji almost wished they could go back, all the way, through all the hardship and heartache and laughter and unfulfilled dreams, to the very beginning.
Suddenly he was aware of eyes on him. Looking up, across the circle of his nakama, he saw Zoro looking at him, his expression open, his eyes intense. They both asked if he was all right and contained amusement that Sanji was dreaming once again.
Always a dreamer, Zeff had said.
And suddenly, Sanji didn't want to go back quite so much.
Yes, things had changed. Some things were lost. Some people were lost.
But some things were gained.
Sanji smirked at the swordsman. Zoro raised a green eyebrow, a corner of his mouth quirking up. A look that was clearly a promise and a challenge.
Maybe, Sanji thought, he had finally had enough of his dreams.
Maybe, finally, he was ready for his life.
His new life.
Whatever that might bring.
*****