In Dreams
Chapter 3
Zoro did not speak to Nami after dinner. Not even Usopp bothered to try and speak to him. He skipped socializing with the rest of the courtiers in the commons.
“Hm. Nami, don’t you think that was a little overboard? Especially in front of everyone like that?” Usopp nearly whispered to the young red head as they sipped champagne and avoided the thick waft of cigar smoking coming from the circle of boisterous men across the room. Nami sat in a dainty chair across from Usopp, Robin sitting directly to her left but slightly behind her, in a similar chair. Usopp sat comfortably in a thick stuffed chair in front of the fire place.
“Che. Ridiculous, the way he baits Sanji. And no, I certainly don’t think it was overboard! He knows how I feel, but I think there is a sensitivity nerve missing in his brain. I have confessed my feelings for him, and he merely brushes them off! No apologies! Nothing! Then he shamelessly pursues the man who claims to love me !” She huffed, fanning herself. Mademoiselle Robin patted her gently on the hand, reminding her not to raise her voice to much, lest everyone in the room hear their business.
“Mademoiselle, would you apologize to Sanji for not loving him the way he wants you to?” Robin said, her words flowing delicately and tastefully from her refined mouth.
“Well-“
“And does Sanji’s love for you stop you from trying to get Monsieur Zoro to court you?”
“I-“
Usopp smiled sympathetically. “There you have it Nami. I understand you sticking up for Sanji, but you came so close to exposing him in front of everyone-“
“In other words, you think I owe him an apology?” Nami scoffed, outrage written on her face.
Usopp crossed one leg over the other, putting down his empty glass. “That, I suppose, is something completely up to you. While Zoro does not love you, I know he sees you as a trusted friend and confidante.”
“What I did is no different than him encouraging Sanji to court me! He knows how I feel about the man! And given how he-“ Robin rose suddenly, and motioned to the balcony.
“Perhaps it would be best to get some fresh air together?” She smiled and headed towards the door. Nami looked around her, seeing that some heads had risen and were tentatively looking in their direction. She promptly followed Usopp out onto the balcony with Robin.
After the glass doors were safely closed behind them, she took a deep breath.
“Given how Zoro himself feels about Sanji, I don’t understand why he encourages Sanji to court me. He knows it drives me into fits!”
Usopp laughed. “I suppose he does it more to see Sanji squirm than you. He knows that every single time you will turn Sanji down. Perhaps he wants Sanji to give up, and one can only try so many times, Nami.”
It was a warm, breezy night out, but the young noblewoman shivered.
“That is precisely the behavior I mean, Usopp. He does these things without any regards to my feelings. He’s using me to wear down Sanji’s resistance, in other words, and I don’t enjoy it!”
Usopp had nothing to say to that. She looked to Robin, imploringly.
“Monsieur Zoro is a swordsman. You know this, mademoiselle. Much like a soldier, the way he interacts with people reflects on his choice occupation. I do not doubt that he cares for you, and always will. But I do know that when he sets his mind to something, he will achieve it, no matter what the means. But he is not inhuman. You should perhaps… try to speak with him on this matter?” Robin’s eyes twinkled. Nami shivered again, despite the warmth.
She nodded and wrapped her arms around her waist. “I think I am quite tired.”
Usopp nodded. “I’ll walk you ladies to the end of the hall.”
Sanji too had skipped out on the dinner after party. He felt tired, and a little reluctant to face his adoring public. He was also distracted, and did not wish to risk any sign that might be interpreted as weakness in front of the social horde of piranha that were the castle courtiers.
He had been lying on his bed for an hour now, still fully dressed, staring up at the silk canopy.
/Mademoiselle Nami came to my rescue tonight./
Perhaps she does care…?
Is there a chance…/
Her voice echoed in his mind.
/"Now Zoro, who are you to remark on Monsieur Sanji's affairs? You have not courted a single woman at all, and not for lack of interest on the woman's part. I should know!"/
Sanji looked over to the dresser across the room. A pile of unopened letters returned from Nami sat rather forlornly next to his washing bowl. Briefly, he wondered if there was a stack of letters like that in Nami’s room, coldly discarded by the swordsman.
/I don’t understand him at all. He’s not interested in such a beautiful creature. Perhaps there is another woman/
Something about that statement seemed strange to the cook. He said it to himself again.
/He’s not… interested… in… Nami. He’s not interested… another woman? No. He’s not interested.
"Now Zoro, who are you to remark on Monsieur Sanji's affairs? You have not courted a single woman at all, and not for lack of interest on the woman's part. I should know!"
…have not courted a single woman at all… lack of interest… I should know…/
It seemed off to Sanji. He remembered how the color had drained from the swordsman’s face, and how Nami had smiled so superiorly, like she knew sensitive information.
/…not courted a single woman… lack of interest…
…on the woman’s part…/
“Argh! I don’t understand! Why isn’t he interested in women!”
A bell struck. It was strange how it suddenly opened an entirely different door as he heard it said with his own voice.
“He’s not interested in women!” Sanji jumped off his bed and ran to his mirror, gripping the sides. “He’s not interested in women! You twit! It must have been so obvious! But wait…”
/I can’t be sure. I have to ask Nami about this herself. Oh you fool. You’ve been fighting someone so needlessly! Of course he isn’t interested in Nami! That’s the only reason a sane man b wouldn’t /b be! No wonder he seems to be so resentful towards me! I’ve been attacking him for no good reason! Ha/
He paced back and forth, excitedly. He could barely contain himself. His biggest rival wasn’t his biggest rival at all. He didn’t even fit in the equation! He had no reason to struggle against the man now.
/Oh God. I have to apologize. I’ve been such a beast, and for what? Nothing! Oh, this makes it so much easier…/
With the thought that he might still find Nami at the after dinner party, he straightened his jacket, ran his fingers through his hair, and left his room.
He didn’t even have to make it to the commons. He found Usopp excusing himself to his room as Nami and Robin were ascending the same stairs he was descending.
“Mademoiselle Nami, it is most important that I speak with you-“
“Monsieur Sanji, eh heh heh, I’m so sorry, but it is late and I-“
“Nami… it’s most important.” Sanji rarely addressed name without the honorific “mademoiselle”. She looked to Robin, and back to Sanji.
“Oh, I would never ask to speak to you without Robin present, of course. I trust my lady’s confidence as sure as I trust myself with a cooking knife.” He smiled and bowed to Robin. Robin merely smiled serenely.
“Well, Sanji, if you insist…”
He led the two ladies back down the stairs to the library, which, thankfully, was abandoned.
Nami took a seat on a love seat next to Robin, a respectful distance away from wear Sanji chose to sit, directly across from them
“You see, Nami, I… believe I may have made a rather crude mistake.” Sanji wasn’t quite sure how to ask in a tactful manner about the swordsman’s sexual preferences, and certainly not without offending Nami, or reminding her of Zoro’s constant refusal of her advances.
“Oh?” Nami said, looking somewhat bewildered.
“What you said tonight at dinner, when you came to my defense-“
“Oh, Sanji, that, I was merely-“
“You don’t have to pretend for him, you know.” He said, looking at her for a sign of denial. She looked at Robin, helplessly. Her friend only looked back at her with a smile that said they were caught.
“Sanji, please, don’t harass him about this-“
Sanji laughed as politely as he could. “It doesn’t bother me. In fact, I hear it’s very popular in Toulouse, Bordeaux, and Marseille... Well, that’s the south for you. And I wouldn’t dream of exposing him. A man’s preferences are certainly his own business. I only feel that perhaps I owe Monsieur Zoro an apology. I thought him to be my rival for your love,” At this point, Sanji stood up and walked to the fire place, “and so naturally I haven’t been pleasant to him. But I also feel that, despite his disposition, he must be insane not to want you.”
He looked to Nami, seeing her look at her hands in her lap.
“You have nothing to be ashamed of, my lady. You are more beautiful than the heavens themselves. I may not be Zoro, but I will always love you. I would die for you, and I will win your affections, not matter what I must do. I will be worthy of the love you give him. I will make you forget him.”
Sanji briefly wondered if such a situation was awkward for Robin. But his thoughts returned to Nami when he saw her lift her face, tears in her eyes.
“Monsieur Sanji, I do not doubt your commitment. There are times when I wish I could bring myself to love you, simply for the sake of forgetting him.”
Sanji flinched, those words stinging.
“But I cannot love you, whether or not I forget Zoro. I think it unfair for you to consistently badger me this way. Perhaps I give in. Perhaps I marry you. You would live a life without love. I have been so close, Sanji, to simply accepting your offer, just to end it! You do not deserve that! You deserve someone who will love you! I deserve to have someone that I love! Just as Zoro deserves someone he prefers!”
The joy Sanji felt previously that evening crumbled, his heart weakening. He gripped the mantle of the fireplace, his eyes boring into the fire that flickered. “Why? What does he have, that I do not? Why would you love someone who could never love you?”
Nami sobbed into her hands. Robin stood.
“That, I think, is enough for the evening. Monsieur Sanji, if you want the answer to your question, redirect it to yourself.”
Sanji blanched.
“Sanji…” Nami said through her hands, “what do you have that I do not?” She stood abruptly and fled the room, with Robin at her heels.
Sanji decided then and there that even though Zoro was not his competition, he hated the man now more than ever.
“Damn woman, what does she think she’s doing anyway?” Zoro said, pounding a fist on the bar for the third time that evening. He looked at Francois, the young son of the bartender, standing behind the bar, looking at him sympathetically.
“That, Monsieur, was a record.”
“Eh?”
“It only took three pounds of your fist to empty the tavern this time. The record was five.”
The swordsman grunted indelicately and drank another swig of his ale. He had at least gone to the effort to change into more common clothes before he showed up this time. If he had scared the people out of the tavern this time it was because he scared people, and not made them uncomfortable with his finery.
Zoro snorted at the thought.
“I’m sick of palace life, Francois. I’d rather be fighting a dozen Javiere Mihawks then put up with those vultures. Someone is always watching you. Someone is always judging you. Someone is always talking to His or Her Majesty about you. If I had it my way, I’d slash anyone who looked at me cross eyed. I can’t even speak the way I want to there! No, I have to speak like a gentleman, act like a gentlemen, offer the women my arm, endure old ladies pinching my cheeks and offering me their nieces and daughters for marriage.”
“Yes yes Monsieur. But I must say, you brought it upon yourself.”
Zoro glared at his friend. “Mihawk never would have noticed me or heard of me had I not become nobility. I wouldn’t have had the right to challenge him, nonetheless expect him to accept my challenge.”
“So this is the price you pay. Just imagine that it’s a form of training all on its own. If you can endure palace life, then you can certainly defeat Monsieur Mihawk.” Francois said cheerfully.
Zoro only grunted.
“And what of Monsieur Sanj-“
“Don’t even say that fool’s name around me. Maybe Ace was right. I can’t love a dream.”
Francois sighed. He looked around mournfully at the empty tavern. “Father isn’t going to be happy about this. Lucky for you, he’s away visiting family. Come now, tell me what’s bothering you.”
“I’ve fallen in love with someone that does not exist, Francois.” Zoro laid his head down on the bar. Francois put his head down on the opposite sighed and grinned at the swordsman.
“Well, why don’t you fall in love with me? It will be romantic. You’ll carry me away from this dump, and we’ll go live in India. We’ll ride those elephants I’ve read so much about, and live with snake charmers and exotic Indian princes and princesses.”
Zoro closed his eyes, imagining the scene. India, elephants and… Sanji. Zoro opened his eyes and looked at his dearest friend mournfully.
“Didn’t work, did it?”
Zoro shook his head.
“It was worth a try.” Francois smiled and sat up. Zoro did the same. “It has to be him, doesn’t it?”
Zoro nodded again, not wanting to speak.
“Well,” Francois sighed and put his hand on his hip, “then you better get to work. He seems like a tough nut to crack. But I have a couple of suggestions for you.”
Zoro looked up at his friend. Francois put up one finger. “Number one, stop treating him so badly.” Zoro started to interject, but Francois promptly put that finger against Zoro’s lips. “Don’t interrupt me. You know I’m right. You treat him like an inferior, with disdain, and what’s worse, disrespect. And a side note to number one, don’t expect him to warm up to you immediately. It will take time.” He took his finger away from Zoro’s mouth, and Zoro sighed.
“Fine.”
“Number two, make sure he knows you’re not his rival in love. And on that matter, try to make Nami understand how you feel. She is your dear friend Zoro, and you owe it to her to be completely honest. And don’t be a beast about it either. You can’t always treat people like opponents, or try to analyze them for their strengths and weaknesses. Nami is a delicate woman-“
Zoro snorted.
Francois frowned. “She’s a delicate, beautiful lady, and she probably feels like she isn’t good enough, being turned down by you. Frankly, I understand you like men, but, well… I like men, and I would still marry Mademoiselle Nami. So it is my firm belief that you’re absolutely insane. Regardless, Mademoiselle Nami still cherishes you and loves you, so you should not treat such affections so idly.”
Zoro sighed. “Alright, alright. I’ll talk to her about it. I’ll be nice to the idiot cook. Anything else, mother?”
Francois smiled. “Keep training. You have to face Mihawk in December. If you somehow manage to capture Sanji’s affections between now and then, and then die, it will have been all for naught. Don’t forget your goal.”
Zoro grinned rather wolfishly. “Of course.”
“Now, get your drunken ass out of my tavern, it’s time to close."
