ZoSan: The Flower

Chapter 40 - Sanji

Sanji had made his decision before the rest of the crew arrived. If he didn't do it now, he'd chicken out again, and he needed to get it out. Needed to see Zoro's reaction to the darkness before he considered other decisions.

"What's wrong?" Zoro asked as he began checking for any sort of listening or recording equipment.

"Before I go back for the night, I've, I've decided to tell you that... thing. I just, I need to make sure that no one could possibly be listening. This is your ears only. And it absolutely cannot go past this room, not ever, not even to Luffy. Are you okay with that?" The room was clean, so Sanji forced himself to stop looking. He knew he looked paranoid. Hell, he was paranoid. He was about to spill the biggest of the few secrets he kept.

"As long as it doesn't affect the crew's safety." Zoro's voice was filled with curiosity and concern and it almost was enough to make Sanji change his mind about telling him. He didn't deserve that much concern. He didn't deserve Zoro.

Sanji's hands clenched and unclenched at his sides a couple times."Honestly, it's safer that no one knows, even you. But you did something big for the sake of our relationship with this surgery. I hope you can consider this to be me doing the same." He pulled the room's hard wooden chair up against the headboard. It barely fit between the headboard and the wall, but barely was all he needed. "Because unfortunately, I think you'll need to know if our relationship has a chance of ... lasting. Becoming more."

"So why are you moving the chair there? Why not just sit on the bed with me? It's more comfortable."

Sanji pressed his lips together as he practically fell into the chair. "Because I'm not sure I'll be able to get it all out if I look at your face as I say it." Truthfully, he'd kinda hoped to sit back-to-back directly, which was a strange comfort thing to him, but Zoro clearly needed the headboard to sit against for the moment.

"Then will you hold my hand as you talk?" Zoro asked, reaching his hand out to the side, barely able to get it around the headboard from this angle.

Wordlessly Sanji let his fingers intertwine, so their palms were together. He knew Zoro would feel his heartbeat, just as he felt Zoro's now. It was the most awkward comfort, but it was nonetheless comforting. He took a deep breath and began. "I'm gonna tell you a story I've never told anyone, okay? So don't interrupt unless it's to stop me, because I don't quite know how ... else to do this."

"You don't have to, you know."

Blowing out a big breath, Sanji answered,"I know. But maybe that's part of why I want to. Need to, if you're okay to hear it. But this story isn't the happiest, so... if you, ...if it concerns you, bothers you, and you don't want me to continue, just say so and I'll get out of your hair and let you rest, okay?" Sanji cleared his throat. "Once upon a time, there was a kingdom with great military renown, known for producing skilled assassins and mercenaries. The war-mongering king was cruel, ambitious, and greedy, but his queen was beautiful and loved. Why or how they married is a story lost to the ages, but marry they did."

"Their first child was a girl, as kind as her mother. But when his wife got pregnant a second time, with quadruplets, no less, the king decided that his children should be stronger, faster, better than regular humans, so as to best lead his army."

Sanji felt his fingers tighten on Zoro's and took another couple deep breaths until he could relax them again. "...He forced his wife to undergo surgery that would modify his unborn children in such a way. But the queen, knowing that the side effect to that power could mean a lack of humanity, a lack of kindness, also ingested a medicine meant to cancel out the effect. But it only saved one of the children, the third of them to be born.