The Nightmares of a Swordsman | Zosan

☆ Chapter 2 ☆

Time: 2pm
Location: Sanji's Cabin

After the breakdown, Sanji left his cabin to get Zoro some water, and make him a new batch of onigiri. He knew that Zoro would need some time to collect his words and thoughts. The Strawhats did question Sanji about what happened with Zoro, but he told them to wait as he himself hasn't gotten a reply yet.

Returning to his cabin, he closed the door and set the onigiri on the table that he would normally store his cookbooks on. He looked over to Zoro to see that he was sitting on the bed, with his head hiding into his knees and his arms wrapped around his legs. He noticed that this was a way of how Zoro wanted to hide his face.

"Very unusual" Sanji thought, "Somethings definitely bothering him...and it's been doing that for a while."

Sanji sat down beside Zoro, trying his best to approach him in a calm manner. He took out his golden lighter and lit his cigarette, slowly inhaling and exhaling the smoke.

"What happened, Marimo?" the cook asked, concerned on how long he's been hurting to have such a mental breakdown.

"I..." Zoro said, then immediately went quiet.

"I can't have you continue to look like this. Sure, whatever you're doing might look good in your eyes, but in my eyes it's different. Your behavior is starting to worry the crew and it's been bugging me too." Sanji took another withdrawal from the cigarette.

Zoro stopped hiding his face and lifted his head. He proceeded to make direct eye contact with Sanji, giving him the most tired yet serious expression Sanji has ever seen from him.

"I'm scared." Zoro said.

Leaving Sanji to be shocked. Scared was never something he would hear the swordsman say. He was dead serious about being scared, his expression was cold and bland.

Sanji took his cigarette out of his mouth, and held onto one of Zoro's hands. This surprised Zoro, as he has only done this sort of action towards a girl and not a fellow foe.

"What are you scared about?" Sanji questioned.

"I've been having nightmares recently...Of a girl I used to like. They were all filled with her telling me how pathetic I am, since I wasn't able to protect her. She constantly tells me that I won't be able to save my nakama, so I've been overworking myself to prove her wrong...Crazy, right?" Zoro looked at Sanji with a forced smile.

He didn't want to admit that the main reason her words were affecting him was because she kept repeating that he won't be able to save his other crush...Sanji.

"Dumbass" Sanji whispered.

"Haha" Zoro faked a laugh, he expected this from Sanji.

After all this was the reason why he wanted to talk to him about it. Telling someone who cares less about him is easier than telling someone who cares more about him. Though what he wasn't expecting was for Sanji's voice to sound low and shattered. Zoro saw that Sanji was tearing up, gripping Zoro's hand tightly.

"You fucking idiot...Your not crazy, your just like everyone else here. Trying to overcome some sort of trauma we all had to deal with. You know how worried I was about you, you haven't eaten in days, let alone weeks. You sat there over pressuring yourself, not talking to anyone about it. Exercising like you're not already tired of doing the same activities over and over again." Sanji started crying.

Zoro was indeed stunned, he pulled Sanji into a hug. He didn't expect Sanji to get emotional, he didn't know he cared about him this much and was paying attention to each move he made. He felt bad for not opening up earlier, but at the same time felt relaxed that he opened up now.

"I'm sorry cook, I didn't know you cared this much about me." Zoro hugged him softly.

"I just need you to take a break and rest from time to time." Sanji said wiping his tears, "Is there any way I can help prevent those nightmares, get you to eat or stop over exercising?"

Zoro wanted to make a change, he wanted to get over these nightmares, constant worry and insomnia. Now that he knows how much Sanji cared about him, he didn't want to hurt him for any longer, he didn't want to hurt himself.

"We can start by eating these wonderful onigiri you made for me on the table" Zoro pointed at the delicious meal, "That's if you're okay with me doing so." he smiled.

"I'd love that" Sanji smiled and brought the onigiri to Zoro.

The cabin was quiet as Zoro ate his onigiri, all you could hear was the sound of the sea breeze and waves crashing against the ship. Occasionally you would hear laughter from the strawhats, but that was about it.

Both Sanji and Zoro enjoyed each other's silence, bonding over it. It had been a while since they have hung out like this, as normally Sanji would be cooking in the kitchen while Zoro sits there, watching him, waiting on his meal. It was like old times, the only thing different was that they were in Sanji's cabin.

Zoro finished his meal, and felt like he had gotten some energy back.

"Come on, let's hang out with the crew to take your mind off of some stuff. Hopefully it will be able to distract you, get you to relax and sleep better than usual tonight," Sanji got up off the bed.

"Hopefully" Zoro whispered, following Sanji out of his cabin and meeting up with their nakamas.