Title: Almost Easy
Author: kikokus (AoiTsukikage)
Rating: NC-17 overall
Characters/Pairing: Zoro/Sanji, Law/Sanji, Law/Zoro/Sanji
Chapter: 1/?
Word Count: 5093
Summary: Sequel to 'So Good So Far.' Everything was supposed to get easier after Dressrosa – at least, that's what Sanji had assumed. He was wrong. .
Spoilers: Recent chapters, but especially chapter 769.

Almost Easy

Chapter One

Law wasn't talking to him.

In fact, he'd barely even seen the other man since the rest of their group had arrived at Zou, and he'd spent all of his time sequestered in his submarine with his crew.

Sanji understood, of course, because Law hadn't seen his crew in well over a year and probably missed them terribly, and he'd been here long enough in advance to know that Law's crew adored him and had certainly missed him terribly.

Nobody would give him any answers, either, which was particularly frustrating, and even cornering Zoro about it got him little more than a grunt and a 'give him some time, Cook,' to which Sanji had replied that he'd assumed there'd be some sort of victory sex involved, and then Zoro had said that there still could be, and well…

Yeah, he was a little embarrassed about how easily he'd fallen into that one, but at least it had taken his mind off of Law for a while. Sort of, because it was impossible to forget that the last time they'd done this Law had been part of it, and even Zoro had a look on his face the entire time like he knew something wasn't quite right. He didn't exactly deserve to look that way, though, considering he was the one who actually knew what was going on.

He'd thought maybe he could get a little more out of Zoro in the afterglow, but that proved to be futile.

"He's okay, though, right?" he'd asked, sitting up in bed and lighting a cigarette. "I mean…"

"He's alive," Zoro had replied, which was rather unhelpfully cryptic, but either Zoro had been exhausted or he'd pretended to fall asleep to avoid having any more of the conversation. The snoring made it impossible for Sanji to talk over it, at any rate, so he'd curled up close to Zoro and tried to get some sleep of his own, assuming Law would come around soon.

That had been three days ago, however, and now with the decision that the Heart Pirates would stay at Zou while Luffy and his crew continued onto Wano to drop off the three samurai, Sanji only had a couple more days to figure out what was going on with Law.

He hadn't even been the one to plan anything out, leaving that to Penguin, who kept looking in Sanji's direction (well, Sanji thought he was looking in his direction, but he could never see the other man's eyes so it was hard to tell) like he wanted to say something directly to him.

He never did, though, reiterating that Law knew Kaido would head to Dressrosa first to see the remains of the factory before making any move against the people who had destroyed it, so they had at least a little time to do their own thing before re-convening for that battle.

Luffy had agreed instantly, which Sanji had also found suspicious, because normally Luffy would be hanging onto Law and begging him to come on their next adventure with them. He looked serious after Penguin left, mouth drawn down in a frown and the fingers of his left hand clenched around his right arm like he was remembering something unpleasant.

Robin and Usopp were similarly unhelpful, Usopp stammering and stuttering his way into a change of topic and Robin giving him a very guarded look before replying, "it's not my place to say what happened" in a tone of voice that implied the conversation was over.

In fact, the only person he did see Law talking to was Franky…or, rather, he caught Law once or twice hurrying across the deck toward Franky's area of the ship, body always wrapped in a heavy cloak and head down, refusing to look anywhere else. Sanji didn't think Law and Franky had exchanged so much as ten words before they'd gotten to Dressrosa, and Sanji was utterly confused as to what was going on.

By the night before they were set to leave, his confusion had morphed into simple irritation. And, since nobody was giving him answers, he decided it was time to get them for himself.

He waited until Zoro had dropped off to sleep, mouth slightly open and breathing even, and slipped off of the couch. Nobody woke up as he made his way across the deck, hopping from the Sunny over to the foredeck of Law's submarine.

The door leading below was unlocked, thankfully, and he made his way through the halls, grabbing the first member of Law's crew he saw and slamming him against the wall with a threat to 'take me to your shitty Captain's room if you don't want to get kicked through the wall'.

The man had agreed instantly, leading him down into the bowels of the submarine to a rather nondescript door. He scurried away as soon as Sanji was situated in front of it, and Sanji decided against knocking and just tried the doorknob.

It opened, leading into what looked like a parlor of sorts. There were plain wooden bookshelves lining the walls, filled with medical tomes, and a few sparse items of furniture littered the floor: an armchair, a coffee table, a small sofa. Nothing frivolous, nothing unnecessary, it was a perfectly functional but completely boring room, devoid of personality and any sort of warmth or charm.

It was what he expected from Law, if he was being honest, but it was also fucking depressing and he hurried through to an adjacent door that was half-ajar, a dim glow visible from within the room.

He breathed out slowly, pushing the door open and wincing at the creaking sound it made.

"I told you, Penguin, I don't wish to be disturbed tonight," Law was sitting on the rather large bed with his back to him, and Sanji thought it was odd for a moment that Law would care about where he slept before remembering that the other man, for as indifferent as he pretended to be, hated being uncomfortable. The room was half-dark, so Sanji didn't think immediately see anything strange, until he looked more closely at Law's silhouette and his breath caught in his throat because holy fuck.

He tried to say something, that he wasn't Penguin or…or…his mind was blank, trying to comprehend what was right in front of him, and he stood there gaping like a dying fish until Law glanced over his shoulder, glaring murderously.

His expression softened as soon as he saw who it was, but it soon changed to a look of horror when he realized that there was no way he could hide.

"Sanji," he said, the word catching in his throat, and Sanji shook his head and felt tears prick his eyes which…damn, this wasn't anything to cry about.

Zoro had lost a fucking eye, after all, and it hadn't slowed him down at all, but…

But Law was a surgeon. He needed two hands to do his job, and to use his ability, and seeing his right arm just…just…gone, was something that Sanji couldn't wrap his mind around because it wasn't right. Maybe it was because his hands were his greatest treasure, and just as important to his craft as Law's were to his, that was affecting him so much, but whatever it was seeing the bandaged stump made bile rise in his throat and he tried to fight off the acid roiling in his stomach.

He wanted to throw up, and he wanted to cry, and he wanted to walk over to the bed and wrap Law in his arms and never let him go again, but all he could do was stand there with his mouth open as if he were frozen.

Law's eyes were more haunted than Sanji had ever seen them, something so fucking broken in them that it was breaking Sanji's heart at the same time.

He finally forced his feet to move, stumbling across the room like a newborn foal, stopping just in front of Law and gazing down at him.

"I didn't want to show you," Law's voice was hoarse, the look in his eyes just one of fear now. "I didn't…"

"Why?" Sanji forced out, the word catching in his throat.

"Because I didn't want you to look at me like that."

Sanji blinked, realizing that Law probably thought he was horrified or something (which, he was, but not for the reasons Law was likely thinking). It didn't change how he saw Law, not at all, although it would take a while to get used to, but mostly he was horrified for Law, because of the pain he must have gone through and because of the work it would take for him to ever be able to perform surgery, with or without the help of his ability, again. So there was horror, and more than a bit of sympathy…Law prided himself on intimidating by his very appearance, by presenting a perfect exterior that drove people away by how cold he was, and now he'd lost that part of his defense and become inherently more vulnerable. Sanji wore his suits like armor, but Law used his entire body to send a message, and he couldn't do that any longer.

"I…"

"Don't pity me. Please. It's bad enough seeing everybody else look at me like I'm a wounded animal they feel sorry for. I don't want that," his voice broke and Sanji couldn't stop his body from reacting on instinct, leaning down and wrapping his arms around Law tightly.

He was shaking, vibrating like a crystal right before it would break into a thousand tiny glittering shards too fine to ever piece back together in the same way. Law's reaction was instant, though, his left hand coming to clutch the back of Sanji's shirt as tightly as he could, and it spoke volumes to just how much he'd wanted some sort of affection even if it was beneath him to ask for it.

"I know you don't," Sanji sighed, because he did, and he was sure he'd be the same way if, God forbid, something like that ever happened to him. "But it's gonna take me some getting used to."

Law nodded, nuzzling his face against Sanji's chest. There was something off about the way he was acting, like he wanted to do more but was afraid.

"What's up?" Sanji asked, trying to pull back a little, but Law was holding him with a death grip on his shirt.

"Do you…" he stopped and took a deep breath. "Do you still love me?"

"You're a fucking idiot," Sanji should have expected something like that, maybe, but it still hurt to know that Law thought he was so shallow that a missing arm would change how he felt. After everything they'd been through, he should have known that Sanji wasn't with him just for his looks…and honestly, it didn't really change how attractive he was, at least in Sanji's eyes.

"I know," Law sounded so lost, and he must really have been feeling awful to agree with Sanji on the idiot point. "I just…"

"I love you. Idiot," Sanji said again for good measure. "And you're still gorgeous."

"Hardly," Law scoffed, but his voice sounded less broken now. "Do you…want to lie down? You can leave if you wish, I don't want you to feel any obligation to stay…"

"Do I need to call you an idiot a third time?" Sanji raised a curled eyebrow and moved back again, and this time Law let him. "We wasted a whole damn week because you were afraid of seeing me, and we're leaving again tomorrow for who knows how long, so do you seriously think I'm gonna leave you alone tonight?" he looked down at Law, frowning, and Law shook his head.

"No, I'm rather certain you won't now," he shifted backwards on the bed, his expression much lighter all of a sudden. "Come here, then."

Sanji grinned, hopping onto the bed and straddling Law's knees. He leaned down, breath hitching because there had been a part of him…a bigger part than he'd like to admit, perhaps…that had assumed Law would die on Dressrosa. When he'd heard those gunshots he'd barely been able to keep it together, and maybe running away from a Yonkou had been the perfect distraction, but at the time he'd felt such a premonition of doom that he'd thought for certain Law's fate had been sealed.

It wasn't, though, and Sanji's Haki wasn't finely-tuned enough to project anything other than strong emotions, and the overwhelming pain and fear hadn't been about Law dying, maybe, but this was certainly cause enough for it.

Law wasn't dead, though, and that was what was important.

They were leaning so close to each other, sharing breath but neither closing the distance between them. Sanji squeezed his eyes shut and tried to clamp down the surge of emotion that flowed through him, because in the last week he'd wanted nothing more than to be here with Law alive and warm underneath him.

He wasn't sure why they were hesitating, so close but both seemingly unwilling to take that last step, and Sanji raised his hands to curl into Law's shirt, lips barely brushing the surgeon's. Law's hand came to rest on his lower back, pulling him in.

"Fuck, I want you," he groaned before he could stop himself, but instead of balking or finding some other sort of excuse Law merely slid his hand under Sanji's shirt, stroking his skin with careful fingertips. "Law…"

"You have me," Law murmured. "You know you have me."

"Yeah?" Sanji chuckled darkly, voice low with arousal. "I thought this was all temporary and after our alliance was over you were going to move on with your life."

"The alliance stands until Kaido is defeated," Law replied, that familiar sultry edge creeping back into his tone. His hand slid under the waistband of Sanji's jeans, his intent clear. "We have time."

"Good," Sanji smiled, leaning in to finally kiss Law properly, when he heard a yelp from behind him and shot upright.

"Sorry, Captain! I was bringing your requested change of bandages," Penguin was grimacing, hands flailing in front of him. "I didn't realize you had company."

"Just leave them on the dresser," Law didn't seem angry or embarrassed, his tone perfectly neutral. "Thank you."

"I'll make sure you aren't disturbed," Penguin added, grinning rather cheekily now, and he backed out of the room with a nod and a pointed glance in Sanji's direction (again, at least, Sanji thought it was in his direction) that probably was some sort of 'don't you dare hurt him' warning.

"Your crew really loves you," Sanji mentioned, probably needlessly, and Law nodded.

"I'm not sure why sometimes, but they do. I appreciate it more than I can ever express, though," he leaned back a little more, eyes drifting toward the stack of bandages. "I should probably…"

"Oh. Yeah," Sanji backed off, seating himself on the edge of the bed. "Do you…need help?"

"I…" Law ducked his head. "I need to tell you something. I don't need the bandages, but for some reason it makes me feel better to wear them than to see…" he rubbed his right shoulder, looking down at the remainder of his arm. "Here," he undid the fastening and let the bandage unravel, sliding it off of his shoulder to pool on the bed. He turned his head away, obviously still ashamed, and Sanji moved closer so that he could look, not sure of what he'd find.

It was…not what he'd expected, that was for sure. He'd seen missing limbs before, of course, with Zeff, and he remembered the severance point being jagged, uneven with scar tissue and chunks of flesh, but Law's arm looked almost sculpted. The skin was smooth, rounded and even, cutting off just before the bottom of the heart tattooed on his shoulder. "Did you…" he stopped, and Law nodded.

"Yes. I wasn't able to reattach my arm since I didn't make the initial cut, and I can't reattach nerves…well, perhaps I'd be able to, but not in the middle of a battlefield. But I did what I could after the fact to make it not look so…" he still wasn't looking at it directly, ducking his head and sighing. "I've spoken with your shipwright and he's offered to build me a replacement arm, although I think he was rather disappointed that I didn't want lasers or fireballs or a gun of some sort built into it."

"Yeah, he would be," Sanji half-smiled, but at least that explained why Law had been sneaking around to see Franky over the past week. "He'll figure something out. I mean, if he can work with all the tiny parts he does to fix the Sunny and build his weapons, it should be easy to create a hand that functions pretty normally, right?"

"So he tells me," Law didn't sound convinced, but then, he didn't know Franky as well as Sanji did. "I'm sure there'll still be a rather large learning curve, which is why I've decided to not travel with you all to Wano. I'm useless if I can't fight, and until I know for sure how much of a hindrance this arm will be initially, it's best if I don't do something that inadvertently makes me a liability."

"I get it," Sanji promised, because he did, even though he really wanted Law to come so he could keep him close. "You…if you don't want to put the bandages on, you don't have to. Not for me, anyway," he wasn't sure how Law would take it, but he reached out with careful fingers, brushing the edge of the rounded skin.

Law shivered, gripping the edge of the bed tightly, and Sanji pulled his hand back immediately.

"Sorry."

The surgeon shook his head, still refusing to look up. Sanji leaned closer to him, reaching to grip his chin and turning his head so that their eyes met.

"It's just a reminder," Law said in a low voice. "That I still wasn't strong enough, that I couldn't…I couldn't even avenge him the way I wanted to. I knew I wouldn't be able to defeat Doflamingo, but I thought maybe the universe would grant me some uncommon luck for once. I feel like I've failed him, somehow…"

"You haven't," Sanji said, feeling sure of that. "Fuck, Law, he wanted you to live. You're alive. That's what matters," he said firmly, and Law nodded once, jerkily. "Now fucking kiss me already, before somebody else from your crew barges in here."

"Yes," Law sounded immensely relieved, hooking his arm around Sanji's neck and pulling him in. He kissed like a man craving human touch, like if he could he'd squirm under Sanji's skin and hide there until all the pain went away, and Sanji had never seen him like this before. He gently guided Law back to lie against the pillows, never breaking the kiss, and flattened his body on top of the other man's to give him the contact he so desperately needed.

Law pulled away then, looking at Sanji with half-lidded eyes. "I realized something back there."

"What?" Sanji asked, a little hesitantly, because with Law it was always hard to tell what was on his mind.

"I never wanted to die. I always thought I would, maybe, because the situation was so unfavorable, but I didn't want to. And I think, considering how bad my injuries were, if I had truly given up on life my body would have shut down. That it didn't, and that something kept me going…maybe my life is meant for something else after all," he spoke the words as if he'd never considered such a thing before, and Sanji sighed and tried to figure out the best way to respond.

"You weren't born to be some sort of…harbinger of revenge against Doflamingo," he started, keeping his eyes locked with Law's to be sure the other man was listening to him. "You didn't even meet him until you were ten or something, right? And from what you've told me, Corazon didn't sound like the type of guy who'd only want you to take down his brother and then die. That's not what he fucking wanted for you, Law."

"Perhaps not," Law conceded with a heavy sigh. "But…" he didn't finish his sentence, the sound of footsteps making them both look toward the door, but somehow Sanji wasn't surprised at all to see Zoro standing there.

"Hey."

The swordsman grunted, walking over to the bed and seating himself beside them. He reached out, carding his fingers through Law's hair, and the other man let his eyes close and pushed his head up toward the offered affection.

"I'm surprised you lasted so long without making me tell you," Zoro chuckled, Sanji shrugging in response.

"I knew it had to be something pretty bad for you to be so secretive about it, and I think that probably scared me more than I wanted to admit," he left his hands on Law's chest, watching them rise and fall with his breathing as if needing to reassure himself that he was alive and here and, at least, relatively okay.

"Yeah, well," Zoro didn't look especially guilty, in any case, and Law was staring at them both as if he couldn't believe they'd still voluntarily want to stay with him. Sanji knew it would be short-lived, because somebody's personality couldn't change that drastically in only a few days, but he guessed that this time around the brush with his own mortality had hit Law a lot harder than he himself had probably expected and things like that tended to change your world-view a little.

Still, he had to admit it was at least a little validating, because Law was still incredibly hard to read sometimes and this didn't really leave any question as to how he did feel about both of them. Sometimes it was hard to remember how little self-worth Law actually had, and how incredulous he always seemed to be to realize that people could like him.

He got an idea then, just a niggling in the back of his mind, but Law obviously needed something and Sanji didn't know what else he could do in that moment.

"Hey. You got a bathroom in here or what?" he asked, and Law pointed toward another door at the back of the bedroom. Sanji got off of the bed, slipping into the tiny room and glancing at himself in the mirror. He stared at his reflection for a while, mulling things over in his head, before making his decision.

He did actually use the toilet before leaving the room (it was as sparsely appointed as the rest of Law's quarters, everything stark and sterile and while there was working plumbing, it was nothing like Franky's work on the Sunny)., sauntering back out and perching on the edge of the bed.

Zoro and Law weren't really talking, but Zoro's fingers were still brushing through Law's hair slowly.

Sanji didn't know exactly how to state what he was about to say, other than to just come out and say it, because it was going to sound odd whichever choice he made. "Take my arm."

"What?" Law asked slowly, blinking at him.

"Just for tonight," Sanji clarified, because as much as he knew Law was struggling with only one arm it really would be impossible for him to cook if he gave it up for longer, and he had a lot of mouths to feed in the morning since a lot of Law's crew, more often than not, decided they wanted to eat his food instead of finding something in town itself.

"It's not going to do me any good to argue with you, is it?" Law already had a resigned half-smile on his face, and after a few seconds he nodded. "Very well. If it's just for the night, I can't see what harm will come of it. Mr. Zoro, would you mind passing me Kikoku?" he held out his hand, and Zoro reached over to grab the nodachi, unsheathing it and placing it carefully on the bed beside Law. "Thank you."

"Go for it," Sanji closed his eyes when Law called up his Room, even though he knew it wouldn't hurt, and when Law told him he was finished he blinked slowly because he hadn't felt anything except…

"Holy shit that's weird," he breathed out slowly, glancing down and trying not to feel too sick when he saw the stump where his arm should be. He could still feel his arm and hand, even though the sensations were a little muted, like when he was leaning on it for too long and his fingers went numb for a while, but when Law flexed his…Sanji's…fingers, he could feel it, even though it wasn't his brain directing the movements.

"Mm," Law nodded, staring down at the arm. "It's rather off-putting, isn't it?"

"What does it feel like for you?" Sanji shifted a little, trying to remember he was carrying far less weight on his right side now and being careful not to overbalance.

"I can feel it, of course, but it's not quite as sharp as if it were my own flesh," he curled his fingers. "At least your arm fits me rather well."

"Yeah," Sanji had to admit that was true. He and Law were built much the same, and while Law was taller, their arms were of a similar length. Sanji's skin was paler, and of course he didn't have the tattoos, but overall it didn't look that odd. "So. Bed?"

"I think bed would be a good idea," Law was still staring at him like he wanted to do something, or say something, and Sanji had no clue what it was.

"Look, whatever you've been stopping yourself from doing, just do it," he said, and tried not to fall over when Law damn near pounced on him, holding him tight. He wrapped his own arm around Law's waist, sinking into the embrace, and he should have known all along that was what Law wanted. Maybe it was because he hated to look weak, but even if he was the one who needed comfort, he seemed to prefer being in control of it. Sanji really couldn't remember Law ever voluntarily letting himself be held, really, but couldn't say he minded it all that much.

He closed his eyes and pressed his nose against Law's collarbone, breathing him in. Now that he was here, he really didn't know how he'd lasted nearly a week without looking for some answers. Zoro's hand landed heavily on his back, rubbing between his shoulder-blades, and Sanji was about to snark that he wasn't the one who needed comforting before he realized that, in a way, he kind of did.

Law eased his way out of the embrace after a time, getting out of the bed and padding to the bathroom. Sanji flopped back against the pillows, shifting around a little to get comfortable. He felt Zoro lay down behind him, chin hooked over his shoulder.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Sanji finally asked, feeling like it was safe to do so now that he knew the truth.

"He didn't want me to," Zoro replied. "I didn't see it happen…after the fight, he was so weak from blood-loss and exhaustion that I had to carry him to the ship, but all he said was not to tell you before he passed out, so I had to honor that."

Of course he did, Sanji thought with a sigh. To Zoro, honor was everything, and while he couldn't blame the swordsman for not telling him because of that, he'd still hoped Law would have thought more highly of him than he did.

"I didn't think he was gonna make it, you know?" Zoro said after a few breaths, his voice soft in a way that Sanji had rarely heard it. "And he…since Chopper was with you guys, we had no doctor. All we could do was wait for him to wake up," he sighed heavily, his arm tightening around Sanji. "I knew you'd kill me if I let him die, but I didn't know what to do."

"It's fine," Sanji promised, locking his fingers with Zoro's and pulling the other man's hand to rest against his chest. "It wouldn't have been your fault anyway, idiot, but I'm glad he's alive," he said, although 'glad' was kind of an understatement. Yes, he'd only known Law for about a month or so, but he still had a hard time now thinking about life without him around. He'd spent almost all of his time before telling himself not to get too attached because everything was temporary, but somehow it had happened anyway.

It was still temporary, of course, but maybe now that Law's death was quite so imminent he could actually enjoy what time they had instead of worrying constantly.

He heard the toilet flush, trying not to focus on how odd it was to feel his arm and hand moving and touching things in a different room while he had no control of it, and looked up when Law walked back over.

The other man climbed into the bed, throwing his…well, Sanji's…arm over the blond's waist. He didn't say anything; his demeanor, as Sanji had suspected, was back to being indifferent. He knew that strange vulnerability wouldn't last, especially not now that he seemed fully reassured Sanji wasn't viewing him any differently because of his missing arm.

He could tell when Zoro fell asleep, the other man's weight slumping farther against his back. For some reason, he couldn't do the same, his mind racing and his body unable to relax even when in the past being between Law and Zoro had always helped him to sleep.

"Sanji," Law didn't open his eyes, but somehow he knew anyway. "Go to sleep. You're not getting rid of me that easily," he pressed his lips to Sanji's forehead, lingering there far longer than he needed to.

Sanji slid his fingers from Zoro's grip, pressing his hand to Law's chest. He could feel the surgeon's heartbeat, still steady and strong even after everything he'd been through, and that more than anything else convinced him that maybe it was time to take his own advice about not worrying so much.

It probably wouldn't work, but at least he could try.

Notes:

1. Yes, this is the promised sequel! I had a request from Strawhatter-ya for Sanji's reaction to Law losing his arm in this 'verse, and somehow that turned into a sequel (and more, perhaps, but that's a ways off yet so we'll see if anybody's still reading by then…). This is of course AU because I have no idea where Oda's going with Dressrosa, or if Law's actually going to lose his arm, but it generated more fic ideas that way so that was the path I chose to take with this.

2. I hope this was an okay first chapter for the fic! I know Law was probably a little OOC but I don't think it's unreasonable to think he'd want some comfort after going through something particularly traumatic.

3. The title of this fic is from another O.A.R. song of the same name, and it's a song that always reminds me of Law because it's about getting knocked down so much that eventually you start to wonder if it'll ever get better, and that's definitely where he is in canon at the moment…

4. As always, feel free to comment if you feel so inclined! And if you want to follow me on tumblr or twitter (I usually post more writing updates on twitter, but I make graphics and do character analyses and write other ficlets and drabbles on tumblr) I'm kikokus on both websites (my twitter is private, but I pretty much accept anybody who sends a follow request)!