What's Not To Love

Chapter 38

Zoro laid awake in Sanji’s room. It was quiet. Way too quiet for him to get a good nights rest. Turning over, he took a breath. The events of how he ended up alone crawled back into his mind.

***

The night began to approach,  causing each crew member to go their own way. Luffy and Usopp began to go downstairs, followed by Franky. Brook began walking towards the Mikan trees, set on playing a new set of songs to put the crew to sleep. Zoro sat with the twins near the head of the ship, Nami and Robin not too far from him. Sanji stood near the deck stairs with Chopper talking.

“What do you think they’re talking about?” Nami said, coming closer to Zoro.

Looking at the blonde man talking to the ship's doctor, Zoro shrugged. He looked back at the twins. 

“They’re coming this way.” Robin said, also walking a little closer.

Zoro looked up at Robin before glancing at the two figures approaching them. When they were close, Zoro noticed how Sanji was avoiding his gaze a little. Guessing that it was about something serious, Zoro stood up.

“What’s wrong?” Zoro asked as they came to a stop in front of them.

Chopper looked up at Sanji before looking back at Zoro. “I think that you need to rest more, Zoro.”

Zoro stared at Chopper in confusion. “Okay.” His response came out more like a question rather than a definite answer. 

Zoro watched as Chopper nudged Sanji forward who kept silent and looked away from the group. Behind Zoro, the girls shared a look of their own before the orange hair woman called out to him.

Hearing his name, Sanji took a breath and turned to meet the confused gold eyes. “Chopper thinks that it's best that you sleep without the kids tonight. Since they keep you up and active.”

Zoro stared at Sanji before looking back at the reindeer. “Huh?”

“I think it's for the best Zoro. To make sure you get better.” Turning to look at Sanji, he continued. “Since you’re staying in his room we don’t have to worry about anyone bothering so I think it's best that Sanji keep the kids for the night.” Looking back at the green haired swordsman, Chopper said, “He’ll be on watch for most of the night anyway.”

Zoro frowned. He didn’t want to be away from the kids for a night and Sanji had been running on low sleep since his room got wrecked, not that he let it show. Zoro opened his mouth to protest but was stopped by hands covering his mouth.

“That's a good idea, Doctor-san.” Robin said. She glanced at Zoro as he tried to remove the extra hands on his mouth. “We’ll get him to the room for you.”

“And we’ll make sure he understands.” Nami added with a sweet smile. 

***

Zoro turned over with an even deeper frown. Usually, if he was having trouble sleeping, he would just turn so that he was facing the twins in their crib. Rubbing his hands down his face, Zoro contemplated on what he should do. Biting his lip, he sat up and silently made his way to the deck.

Once on the deck, Zoro calmed down enough to catch Brooke’s song switch. He took a breath of the ocean air and noticed a hint of rain from the scent. Looking out into the distance, he saw the clouds gathering and getting darker. Surprisingly, though, he didn’t think it was an unpleasant sight. On the contrary, he felt relaxed. Thinking that he felt good enough to sleep, Zoro turned on his heel, ready to go back below deck. As he approached the steps, his steps slowed. Looking back towards the crows nest, Zoro couldn’t help but wonder how Sanji was doing. Letting his curiosity lead him, Zoro found himself at the base of the crows nest, silently going up.