New Life

Title: New Life: Chapter 7
Author: Genuinelie(s)
Rating: PG (language, but c'mon. You know that.)
Disclaimer: Not mine.

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Chapter Seven
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Sanji blinked open sleep-crusted eyes. His eyelids felt like they were welded together. The corners were moist and felt somehow raw, like he had been crying for a very long time. He couldn't say if he had or he hadn't, because the last thing he remembered was the pain of a spear being wrenched from his stomach.

Blearily, his eyes focused on a water-stained wood ceiling. An unidentifiable stain in the middle of it told him he was in the doctor's quarters. His back was supported by something soft and unmoving; he was lying on the single sickbed the Going Merry owned. He couldn't tell what time it was, but it must have been past midnight as the cabin was illuminated only by the flickering orange glow of a candle.

The gentle rocking of the boat coupled with a dull pain in his abdomen was making him more than a little nauseous. He concentrated on taking in slow, steady breaths until the feeling passed, closing his eyes again as he did so.

He must have fallen back asleep, because when he opened his eyes again the cabin was bathed in the clean light of afternoon. His earlier nausea was back, and the pain in his stomach had reasserted its presence with a vengeance. It was like the time he had eaten a fish on the Baratie without asking Zeff if it was edible. He had learned first hand that some fish liked to protect their scaly selves with poisonous skin. He had been sick for a week straight, and his belly had felt like it was being torn from the inside out with fishhooks.

This was worse. It almost hurt too bad for him to even groan, so he flopped his head to the side to see if the doctor was around to give him painkillers. Instead, he saw a slumped form, identifyable as Zoro, sitting in a wooden galley chair a couple of feet away from him, head cradled in his hands.

Sanji was about to ask for some drugs when he saw the man's mouth was moving. Sure enough, a dull murmur carried across the room.

Sanji strained his ears.

"Kuso-cook. Fucking...get yourself...hell were...killed."

Zoro's voice cracked on the last word.

His hands were hiding his face from Sanji, but the cook was sure he wouldn't like whatever expression Zoro was wearing.

Sanji tried to speak, but it resulted in an alarming coughing fit that firstly wracked his body with pain and secondly threw Zoro from his chair as the other man was taken by surprise. He ended up tripping over his chair, eyes wide, expression wild. Finally his gaze focused on Sanji.

Sanji worked his mouth, but nothing came out. Zoro just stared at him for a second, unrecognizable emotions fleeing over his face. Sanji was taken off-guard as Zoro suddenly shouted, "Doctor! Ana! He's awake!"

The sound of approaching footsteps were heard on deck, but Sanji's vision faded before they reached the room.

*****

Sanji awoke for the third time with the senstation of someone running featherlight fingers through his hair. He opened his eyes and was pleased to find that not only did he not feel like expunging his innards, but the pain had faded to a dull point. He could feel it throbbing, lying in wait, but for the moment he could tell it was supressed under a blanket of drug-induced bliss.

"You're awake," Zoro's scratchy voice came from above him. The touches stopped and withdrew. A moment later the scraping of a chair being pulled up came from his side. Sanji turned. He caught a fleeting glimpse of Zoro staring intensely at him, a hint of desperation on his features, before the swordsman looked down and away. He focused instead on a floorboard, or possibly the corner of Sanji's blanket.

"Hey," Sanji managed to get out without coughing. "..fucking marimo. Like playing nursemaid?" Sanji was still a little embarassed about exactly how he had been skewered, and somehow having the swordsman hovering over him like his damned mother was making him more than a little uncomfortable.

Zoro frowned deeply, still not meeting his eyes.

The lack of response put Sanji on edge. "Oi. Where's Ana?"

Zoro shrugged with one shoulder. "I said I would watch you."

Sanji snorted. "Like I'm going anywhere, kuso-marimo."

Zoro finally looked up, meeting his eyes with a fierce glare. "That was stupid."

Sanji blinked. "What?"

"How the hell did you manage to get yourself shish kabobed by a damned cadet?"

Sanji snorted. "You've been hanging around with me too much if you've started making kitchen jokes, marimo."

Zoro narrowed his eyes even further, expression murderous.

Sanji glared back. "Look, asshole, you don't have to be here. Just get the doctor. I'm not gonna die on you." He turned away.

Suddenly, Zoro's hands buried themselves into the mattress by Sanji's legs, knuckles turning white. Sanji looked up in surprise. Zoro wasn't meeting his eyes again, head tilted to the side, shadowing his face. His arms were trembling.

"Did it feel like this?" The other man's voice was low.

"What?" Sanji asked, surprised.

"When - when you thought I was dead. Did it - "

Zoro's hand slid up Sanji's side hesitantly to grasp his hand. He could feel the swordsman shaking.

Zoro's head was still bowed, but there was no mistaking the single drop of water that splashed to the floor. For a moment, Sanji forgot to breathe. His throat constricted, slightly panicked.

"Oi. Oi, Zoro. It's ok. I'm here, right?"

"Sanji," Zoro commanded, then finally looked up to meet his eyes, forcing Sanji to acknowledge what he saw shining there. All the emotion, all the fear. All the vulnerability the other man was feeling because of him.

It terrified the cook, but there was no where to run to and Zoro was holding on to him too tightly to try anyway. Sanji swallowed thickly. Finally he broke the gaze, honesty torn from him.

"It felt like this," Sanji said. "It felt like a spear being ripped from my gut. It felt like something inside of me had been torn away, and there was nothing to replace it with." He felt wetness on his cheeks, and it made him glower angrily. Damn him.

Suddenly he felt the press of Zoro's forehead on his own, and drops of moisture that weren't his own ran down his face.

"I think -" Zoro paused. "I need -"

But Sanji nodded against his head, saving him from finishing his thought. He tilted his chin up, pressing his lips gently to Zoro's.

Zoro met his eyes, soft with emotion. He gestured to the bed. "Will it - is it ok if I-"

Sanji nodded. Zoro's weight settled beside him, carefully avoiding touching Sanji's side. A hesitant arm wrapped around his shoulders, sliding gently beneath his neck.

Sanji closed his eyes and let his head fall back, resting against Zoro's shoulder. "I'm not going anywhere," he said.

There was a long silence, and just before Sanji drifted into sleep he heard Zoro reply quietly,

"I won't let you."

*****