Future

Chapter 7: Sanji - Escape

"Fuck..." Sanji peered through the trees at the ten or so creatures in between them and the port — their only chance of escape. Then he looked at his broken leg, evaluating his pain tolerance against his ability to continue to suppress his presence in light of his current line of thought. "Can you function enough to splint my leg?"

Law had finally gotten them out, but he was visibly exhausted now — sweating up a storm under his bloodstained hat, struggling to keep moving, and barely conscious. He'd been in sea-prism cuffs for the whole week, so it was no wonder. Sanji wasn't even sure how the other maintained a grip on his sword, much less his grip on rationality. It had been Law's suggestion, after all, to mute their presences, make it harder for their captors to pursue them.

Sanji elaborated on his last-ditch plan as he removed his shoe; it was so beat-up, it wasn't doing any good anyway, especially for his broken leg. "If you can patch me up just enough to fight for a few more minutes, I can distract them while you get to one of those boats. Then you find a way to signal me and I'll break loose and get there, too. Then we go find our guys."

It was a crummy plan, as plans go, and their odds were abysmal between Sanji's broken limbs and Law's sheer exhaustion. But it might be their only chance. The defeated look in Law's eyes said he knew it, too. Still, he nodded and found two relatively straight sticks while Sanji tore long strips from what remained of his shirt, revealing fresh, deep purple bruises that he knew Law already suspected. Yesterday's beating would not make this any easier, but hey, what was another fight with broken ribs?

Law handed him a third stick, with slightly softer wood. "Bite this."

Sanji did, and that was all the warning he got as Law forcefully set his leg and splinted it, wrapping it with the pieces of shirt. Even with the stick, it was hard for Sanji to keep from screaming at the pain that shot through him at Law's firm motion.

"Sorry," Law ground out as he finished securing his work with the shoelace from Sanji's discarded shoe. "Get us out of here and I'll try to offer a kinder bedside manner next time."

Sanji nodded his understanding and appreciation as he focused on breathing through the surge of pain. Once it lessened enough so he could focus, he stood. It hurt like a bitch, but he'd fought with severe pain before. He only needed a couple of minutes, anyway.

Hopefully.

"Stay out of their sight and get clear. I'll come find you when I can. If you haven't seen me in two hours, go by yourself as soon as you get the chance. Get yourself back to Luffy and tell Zoro...."

How could he sum up all the things he wanted to convey to his husband if this went poorly? There was so much. 'I love him,' covered most of it. 'I fought to the end,' added more. But there was more, so much more that words could never do justice to. That words weren't needed for. Had never been needed for, not between him and Zoro.

"Well... never mind. He knows," was all Sanji could come up with.

Law mumbled something about him being the captain and Sanji not giving him orders, but Sanji shooed him off to focus again on the creatures he was about to try to distract. Law obediently began creeping through the underbrush, away from Sanji.

He didn't know what they were, but they didn't seem entirely human. Vaguely human-shaped, maybe, but it was like they were made of shadows and smoke. Their appearances, even down to their very faces, seemed to shift and ooze horrifically. Whatever they were, they seemed to be making their way toward the building that Law had just gotten Sanji out of — in a determined march that seemed eerily familiar.

Once Law had faded far enough out of sight, Sanji hobbled forward, finally catching their attention. "Oi! Come and get me, you bastards, I dare ya!"

There was a murmur of surprise, then one of them broke rank and charged towards him. With a grunt and a too-fragile coating of armament haki on his leg (dammit, his focus was weak, he needed to focus, but the pain of his broken bones was barely edged back from his consciousness), he spun into a kick but was stopped by what felt like a sheathed sword. His redirect was blocked by another sword, but he knew how to fight against dual-wielders, and like hell he was going to let this one take him down, no matter what it looked like or what he felt like.