New Life

Title: New Life: Chapter 15
Author: Genuinelie(s)
Rating: PG
Disclaimer: Not mine.

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Chapter Fifteen
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It took them three hours to reach the edge of All Blue, the usually turbulent water as calm and still as glass. Sanji nevertheless spent the duration of their trip across the storm's territory in the galley, at first attempting to cook their new shipmates dinner but soon giving it up in favor of cigarettes and a seat at the galley table. His hands were shaking too harshly to dice the meat.

His moment of weakness went unobserved, Robin being on the deck with the rest of the crew, fascinated by the phenomenon of the weather. It was an hour before they cleared the area, but once past its treacherous waters the sails billowed out and the little ship started its journey properly. Sanji had a cigarette to calm his nerves, then pushed himself to his feet to resume his preparation of a meal that would, in all likelihood, only be truly appreciated by one person.

Sanji felt a slight twinge at leaving All Blue, but was surprised that that was all. He harbored no deep regret.

Leaving his life's goal should never have felt like relief.

*****

The vessel was cramped and dank, but the remainder of the six days to Herald's Port passed without incident. The crew they sailed with turned out to be traders, which is what had brought the somewhat uncultured men to Sanji's restaurant. Entrepreneurs, they looked to open trade with Torakara Island and had been largely successful in their venture, the natives excited to open their doors once again to the rest of the Grand Line after a long isolation.

Robin spent the time trading stories with the sailors or reading on deck in a manner reminiscent of her time on the Going Merry. Sanji spent his time away from the crew, smoking on the upper deck or cooking meals for the men and Robin.

Even in a dirty kitchen and sleeping beside men who hadn't showered in months, Sanji couldn't help but admit to himself the freedom he felt as they traveled swiftly through the deep blue water. He could no longer deny the joy brought to him by the slapping of waves against the hull and the tang of sea wind against his face.

Staying up long into the nights and watching the moonlit water trickle by, Sanji was finally forced to acknowledge how much he had missed this.

Maybe, came the traitorous thought, more than he would ever miss the calm waters of All Blue.

*****

They arrived in the harbor as dusk was settling in, the sky and water a matching rose-tinted grey. The port was busy despite the late hour, and they had to wait for a long while before they docked as other ships were herded into place.

Herald's Port was a quaint, medium-sized seatown with cobblestone streets and uniform three-storied buildings made out of a yellowish stone. The high towers of a marine base could be seen on the other side of the city, by Sanji's reckoning about a brisk fifteen-minute walk from where they landed.

Davy and Don agreed to lead them to the base, since that was where they were headed anyway. The narrow streets were crowded as they navigated its byways, small groups of people chatting around cookfires or dancing to poorly-played stringed instruments. The noise only got louder as they neared the base; it appeared that the people of Herald's Port had made a sort of festival out of the hanging. Tents and food stalls were set up in the main square, amid a mass of laughing and drunken people.

Sanji felt a bit overwhelmed amidst the noise. It had been a long while since he had seen anything other than the quiet life of Torakara Island or the steady routine of his restaurant, and even longer since he had been in a crowd of any sort.

"I didn't think there would be so many people," he murmured to Robin.

She smiled at him, absorbing the commotion passively. "You forget how bored people are in the world," she said softly, "I imagine it's been a long time since these folk have seen any sort of excitement. A hanging of such a famous man would be a large event."

He nodded. If anything over the years, he had learned how bloodthirsty humans could be.

Suddenly, he was jostled as a woman in a brown cloak pushed past him, a small child in tow. She stumbled and he reached out to catch her arm, but she shook him off with a curt, "Watch it!"

He didn't see her face, but for a moment he saw a swatch of red hair swing out from under her hood as she hastened away. He felt a sharp pang in his stomach. With her tone, he was sharply reminded of Nami.

A second later the woman was lost in the crowd. Sanji shook himself out of his reverie.

"This is where we leave ya, mateys." Davy said, breaking into Sanji's thoughts as they reached the middle of the square.

Sanji nodded at him. They had paid and their business was done as far as he was concerned.

Robin was more polite. "Thank you for your kindness," she said.

They waved it off with a leer, and promptly made a beeline for the nearest drink stall.

Sanji sighed. "Uncivilized sea scum." He muttered. He wasn't sorry to be rid of the pair, although they had turned out to be decent enough men.

Robin squeezed his arm. "Not everyone can be as well-mannered as our cook," she said with a smile.

Our cook. Again, that unwanted, heavy wave of nostalgia.

"It doesn't mean they should be complete pigs, at least not around a lady such as yourself," Sanji replied.

Robin just smiled at him.

"Look," he said, stopping her as they reached the edge of the square, where the streets branched off towards the marine base. "One of us needs to secure us a ship, one that doesn't mind leaving in a hurry." He pressed his hefty pouch of money into her hands. "It shouldn't take this much, but -"

Robin took the berries and nodded at him. "I'll be glad to."

He nodded at her, and took off down the street without a backwards glance. He knew the woman could take care of herself.

The barracks were surrounded by a high stone wall, impenetrable save for a large, barred iron gate. It didn't appear to be heavily guarded, and Sanji could understand why. Anyone who tried scaling that wall couldn't possibly meet with much success.

However, Sanji thought with a twinge of pride, with Robin's help the task should be simple enough.

The wide open area in front of the base was empty, cobblestones stretching from the edge of town up to the massive grey wall. Sanji shoved his hands in his pockets and walked nonchalantly up to the guards, a cigarette between his lips. They eyed him incredulously, smirking.

"Oi," Sanji called casually. "Is it ok to see the prisoner?"

They gave each other a long look, then shrugged. "He'll be paraded through the town early enough tomorrow morning, you know." One said to him, pushing his standard white navy cap back to give him a once-over. "You might get a better look at the bastard then."

"Yeah," one of his companions muttered, "I almost think he kicked it already. Hasn't moved in a week, not since we tied him there."

"Hn," Sanji replied, noncomittedly.

He peered into the dark of the courtyard. he could make out a dark shape, spread-eagled and slumped against a high pole. Ropes dangled from his limbs. He couldn't see much of the man, but he could tell from the hang of his clothes that he must be nearly emaciated, loose fabric blowing tattered in the light breeze.

Sanji frowned.

His stomach dropped abruptly.

Starved or not, the man tied to that post was not Mihawk. Wrong build, wrong height. Wrong -

Sanji squinted into the darkness, gripping the cold bar of the gate with white knuckles.

Wrong hat.

Even in the darkness, he could make out red against straw. He would know the shape anywhere, having followed it almost blindly for so many years of his life.

It was Luffy's hat.

Somehow, someone had found it in the waters of All Blue. And somehow it had survived unscathed from the storm.

Sanji's shoulders trembled. It was unfair. For this ridiculous, lucky symbol to have survived, and yet -

A cool rage blossomed in his chest. He had given up All Blue to save an impostor, a coward and a thief who thought it fine to wear his captain's hat, even on the way to his death. Like he deserved that honor.

The man's head was lowered, the hat's wide straw brim shadowing his features. Sanji jerked his chin at the condemned, not removing his eyes. "That's not Hawk-eyed Mihawk," he said softly to the guards. "I was told you'd caught the best swordsman in the Grand Line. What is this?"

The guards looked at him in surprise.

"Mihawk?" Their captain asked incredulously, "Why would we have Mihawk? He's been nothing for years. In truth, I thought he'd already died."

One of the others, wide-eyed, said, "This is the one who beat him, two or three years ago now, about."

Sanji's frown deepened. He had heard of no other champion, and it didn't sit well that Zoro had been so easily replaced.

"He's an impostor," he spat.

"Here, now," one of the marines said, offended. "That's not true. We did a very thorough check when we pulled him in last year." He paused, puffing up his chest, "I was on the fleet that got him!"

Sanji glowered, but held his tongue.

He had to find Robin. Even if he no longer felt any inclination to save whoever it was the Marine's managed to drag in, they needed to get Luffy's hat. Ideally, before it was sullied with blood.

At least it wouldn't be a complete waste of a trip, Sanji consoled himself as he trotted back to town.

Luffy would be overjoyed.

If the brat ever made good on his promise to visit.

*****

It didn't take him long to find his nakama, one of her hands sprouting from his back to tug him gently into an alley before he reached the main square. She was leaning casually against the wall, waiting for him.

"I found a ship. They refused to take us to All Blue through the storm, but agreed to take us to one of the nearby islands with a good port. It should be easy enough to find passage from there."

"Money?"

"It's cheap enough. I agreed to pay after we've reached our destination. They want us to come before daybreak. They've refused to wait past the sunrise."

Sanji frowned at her. "Fine. But Robin - it's not Mihawk."

The tall women raised her eyebrows in surprise. "Who, then?"

"I don't know. I couldn't see in the dark." Sanji grimaced. "There's more. Whoever it is is wearing Luffy's hat."

Robin's eyes widened. "I thought you said it was lost in the storm?"

Sanji nodded grimly. "It blew overboard at the same time we lost Zoro." Almost two years, and he still had to force himself to say the words. It was like drawing a katana up his throat.

Robin looked thoughtful. "We should get Luffy's hat for him. And see who could possibly fool the marines into thinking he's Hawk-eyed Mihawk's champion."

Sanji nodded again. "It's not well-guarded, but it has a solid wall. Do you think you can lift me over it?"

"And distract the guards." She affirmed.

It would be simple enough. Taking Luffy's hat from the half-dead man in the dark compound should easily go unnoticed.

Sanji supposed that finding Luffy's precious straw hat after so long was enough reason for them to have come, even if they were no longer saving Zoro's respected rival. Grief over Zoro's loss overshadowed all else while Luffy was still repairing his ship in All Blue, but Sanji knew it had to have hit him hard later. The hat had been an anchor for Luffy, through everything, and Sanji suspected having something to hold on to, even when all was thought to be lost, was part of what gave Luffy the strength to achieve his dream.

And even without all that, Sanji knew it was important that Luffy be able to give it back to Shanks.

Robin slipped out of the alley, her gait slow and casual. Even without trying, the woman blended into the shadows, a wraith over the cobblestones. Sanji could see that her assassin's training would never be far from her.

Noise from the main square echoed between the buildings, straying voices and snatches of music haunting the deserted roads of this part of the city. The crowds had stayed away from the outpost. It seemed that though the citizens were more than willing to celebrate their captures and their hangings, the marines, and the recently reformed World Government, were still regarded with more than a touch of caution.

They neared the base, and Sanji veered off on a side street that led to the left of the barracks. There were five guards standing watch, but they were telling jokes in a circle, relaxed and unaware. Sanji felt a touch of pride that they went down without a sound, felled before they had a chance to realize he was there.

A row of hands sprouted like a ladder from the wall, the lowest shaping graceful fingers into a foothold. It was a struggle to remain stable, but he managed to scale the fortress without impaling himself on the top row of spikes and to drop to the dirt on the other side without injury.

The courtyard was empty, save for the slumped figure in the middle. Much like all of the marine bases he had seen - uniform, functional, boring. Sanji supposed the field must be used for training, when they weren't using it to starve their prisoners.

He could hear Robin's throaty voice chatting pleasantly with the guards behind him as he strolled across the dirt. He stopped in front of the prisoner and took a moment to examine him. He was dressed in a tattered grey uniform, stained with blood and other things Sanji didn't want to identify, the fraying at the edges suggesting he had worn the vile clothing for no small amount of time. Though the man was thin, starved, Sanji could see the remaining traces of a muscular build. He had been strong.

Sanji let out a small breath and reached forward, hoping whoever it was wasn't awake to make a fuss. Lifted the brim -

Sanji tore the hat away and stumbled backwards, unable to keep his wordless exclamation silent.

Hallucinating.

A quick hand sprouting from his back rapped him sharply on the head in warning, pushing him forward.

Dreaming.

"Hey now-" Sanji heard a marine shout loudly, "Who's in there?"

Sanji felt his body respond. His mind receded as instinct took over. No time to think. No time to process that the man wearing Luffy's hat to his death was one of the few who deserved to.

One who shouldn't be alive to die again.

Green hair -

Sanji fumbled with the ropes, his hands shaking too badly to be of use. He was ready to cry with frustration. Two pairs of hands sprouted from the metal bars, gently pushing his aside to work the knots. Behind him, he heard the enormous iron gate creak open, the startled cries of the marines yelling at him, the snick of their guns being cocked.

Sanji knew they were too far away for him to kick or block, and knew that if he moved they would only hit the man behind him.

Zoro.

Sanji didn't turn, but blocked as much of the other man's body as he could with his own, staring at the other's face, unblinking.

Zoro was alive.

Gunshots cracked out behind him. Still Sanji didn't close his eyes. Unable to speak, he willed the man to open his eyes, to acknowledge that he was here. To prove to Sanji that for one moment more, one moment he was willing to die for, they were both still alive.

Zoro had been alive, in captivity, held by marines, for more than a year.

Alive,

The whole time, alive.

Impossibly, the shot never hit home. Instead, a ridiculous thwapping sound resonated around the base. Vaguely Sanji remembered someone yelling something. Something familiar.

"Gomu gomu no-"

He whirled around.

"Sanji!"

Red shirt, black hair.

No hat.

"Sanji, you came!" Luffy shouted, puffing out his chest and sending bullets flying back towards their owners. "I wasn't sure you got my message in time."

Message?

"Luffy!" Sanji suddenly yelled, alarmed. The marines were sneaking up behind the boy, rifles cocked.

"Ayah!"

They all fell down.

Impossibly, they all fell down. Luffy whipped his head back around, neck snapping. It wasn't Luffy or Robin who had felled them.

Sanji was tugged around by one of Robin's hands before he could see what had happened. Before he realized what he was doing Zoro's emaciated body fell into his arms.

Sanji's heart broke.

He didn't want to touch the man. He felt too frail in his arms, like the bones would snap. Nothing like Zoro was ever supposed to feel like. Sanji felt himself begin to tremble again as he lifted him gently, cradling him. Still not processing that this was real.

Just another nightmare.

Was he dead?

No.

The body was warm, the light rise and fall of his chest moving against Sanji's arms.

"Sanji!" Luffy shrieked. "Let's go!"

Automatically, Sanji followed.

Up ahead of them, Sanji could see four other shapes running. One was Robin.

The other, strangely, was the woman Sanji had run into in the marketplace. There was no mistaking the red flash of hair, even in the dark of night, or the small child-sized figure that ran beside her. The fourth was cloaked, but was unmistakably leading their way.

Who?

There was no time to think about it, the sounds of the marines chasing them swallowed by the sudden noise of the crowd in the main square. For a brief moment, Sanji lost them, disoriented as he ran through the mass of people and tents, but then one of Robin's hands appeared, showing him the way.

The rest of the sprint was a blur to Sanji. He followed them onto a boat, only realizing once aboard that it was the Going Merry. Sanji was even more disoriented by the familiar decks than he was in the strange city.

This wasn't supposed to be here. He wasn't supposed to be here.

Zoro wasn't supposed to be alive.

Dreaming.

He had to be.

He heard them raise the anchor, felt them push off, heard the sails drop, dimly felt someone lead him to the doctor's quarters when the attempt to remove Zoro from him failed.

Finally, he got his bearings, setting the man down gently on the familiar sickbed. Stared at him, bewildered and stunned.

Ana was standing beside him, a hand on his arm. She smiled at him even as she started to look Zoro over.

"I wasn't sure Luffy sent the message in time," she said, voice warm. "Welcome back, Sanji."

*****