Chapter 10: Scenario 'X'
Almost two weeks had passed since the latest addition to the strawhat crew had been made. And although those days had been full of stress and ruckus due to the completely new situation; although sleep in most of the nights had been short – if not at all nonexistent -, sweet little Nyoko had instantly won everyone's heart. Even Zoro found it hard to deny that he had easily fallen for the tiny girl. Yet hardly anybody was more enthusiastic about her than Luffy, the crew's captain himself. Nami had often caught him sneaking up to the crib when Nyoko was taking a nap, where he would sit for hours just to watch her and wait until she would wake up and he would get the chance to play with her. Considering little Nyoko's – or Nyo-chan, as she was now affectionately called by the entire crew (except for Zoro of course, who would probably never bring the suffix –chan across his lips in his whole life) – playing was still well restricted: the cheery boy would closely lean over the girl and contort his face in all ways possible, and certainly in those quite impossible to normal human beings, until she smiled or laughed at him.
Now however, as Nami looked into her little daughter's wide eyes, it was not smile that she saw; her blue eyes, which were turning darker day by day – and the navigator suspected that they would soon be a dark brown – were glittering with large tears. Chopper had just taken a blood sample from the small child to determine her blood group; and Nyoko was obviously not too fond of syringes. As soon as the needle had touched the soft skin on her arm – no matter how gentle the ship's doctor had been – tears had sprung to her eyes and a low, crying sound had started echoing through the room.
"Shhh…", Nami whispered while gently rocking the small bundle in her arms, "It's okay… It'll stop hurting in no time…"
"Here, Nami-san", Smiling, Sanji handed her a small bottle, "This tea should help her calm down."
Nami accepted the bottle with a thankful smile. "Thank you, Sanji-kun."
She carefully brought the small glass container to the child's lips and watched contently as Nyoko started sucking in the tea and almost instantly calmed down.
In the meantime, Chopper had been busying himself with exchanging the blood samples between different vials, from time to time adding certain fluids to the red liquid, each single time closely eyeing the vial for any sort of reaction.
"So, Chopper…", Sanji began hesitantly, rubbing the inside of his elbow, "can you use the samples?"
The little reindeer slowly turned around to his nakama. Sanji's words had instantly gained him everybody's full attention. Zoro had cracked one eye open, still leaning with his back against the wall next to the door; Usopp had stopped working on another toy for little Nyoko.
The doctor was still holding a vial in his small hoof, the liquid in the glassy container showing a very slight change in color. He nodded.
"Yes, I could", he started tentatively. He already knew the answer to the question that had been on everybody's mind for many months now; he knew who little Nyoko's father was. He gulped nervously, bracing himself for the important announcement.
"Congratulations…"
Every single member of the crew instantly tensed up, perking their ears. The tension was almost strong enough to be sizzling through the air like bolts of electricity.
: commencing:
: Scenario Z
"Congratulations… Zoro…"
Silence.
A long silence.
There was no need for more than those two words, just 'Congratulations … Zoro…'.
The swordsman quietly closed his eye again, otherwise remaining completely motionless. Nami showed a surprised expression, letting out a small gasp, but then soon steadied her facial features and looked down to little Nyoko who was still greedily sucking in the tea, completely oblivious to anything around her. Usopp and Luffy, however, quickly recuperated from the sudden shock, sending their jaws clanking to the ground.
"Zoro?" Usopp muttered in disbelief.
Luffy titled his head to the side, eyeing his first mate in concentration.
"I'm hoping the poor girl didn't get his sense of direction…" the marksman muttered under his breath.
However, still loud enough for said swordsman to overhear.
"What was that…?" He cracked one eye open, his low voice grumbling through the room threateningly.
Yet before Usopp even had the time to duck his head and hide behind his captain, the sound of the door falling shut rang to their ears; the blond cook had quickly left the room, unnoticed, without a single word.
"Sanji-kun!"
The navigator tightened her grip around little Nyoko and was about to stand up to follow her nakama when a rough voice interrupted her.
"I'll talk to him", Zoro said calmly, while he was already making his way outside.
"Ah, so here you are."
Zoro quietly walked up to Nami's small tangerine grove in the back of the Going Merry.
The blond cook stood among the thick bushes, busying himself with tending the soft soil and checking the orange fruits.
"What do you want?" Sanji asked gruffly, anything but pleased about the distraction when he obviously dearly wanted to be left alone.
"Nothing", the swordsman quietly stated, leaning his back against the railing. "I just didn't think you were the kind of man to break a promise that easily."
Sanji instantly spun around furiously, ready to leap at his nakama.
"Just say what you want, you darn swordsman!" he spat.
"Well", Zoro started, a smirk playing on his lips. He had gotten his male nakama by his pride. So easy…
"Didn't you promise Nami that you would support her no matter what? Just running off like that isn't what I'd call support…"
Sanji grimaced, gritting his teeth. He slowly turned his back toward his nakama.
"Easy for you to say something like that", he muttered under his breath, and went on tending the bushes, "after all you are…"
Yet before he could go on, he was instantly interrupted by Zoro.
"Easy is definitely not the right word for this situation, you should know that well enough", he cut Sanji off. "Look", he continued with a sigh, "I know this isn't what you would've wished for. And this situation will be hard on all of us. But this is definitely not the time to be egoistic. It's supposed to be about Nami and the child. Keeping them safe and supported should be the major concern, not some stupid, selfish wishes. They both need all of us now, not just me because of the results of some stupid genetic test or whatever. We'll all have to hold responsibility."
Sanji quietly balled his hands into fists, his white knuckles protruding the thick skin.
"Do you think I don't know that?" he pressed out in a mere whisper. "But that's not going to make things easier…"
Zoro shook his head with a sarcastic grin.
"Nobody ever said it would be easy, you know that. But pouting about it won't do any good either."
Sanji quietly nodded. Zoro was certainly right, he knew that very well. And he would never ever back out of a promise, especially not one he had made to his precious Nami-san.
"And now get your butt back in there, you shitty cook", Zoro added with a smirk, "Go back and stand up like a man."
Sanji scowled at his green haired nakama, forcing a weak grin.
"You don't know how much I hate it when you're right…"
"Don't even think about it…" Zoro said with a grin on his lips.
He easily picked little Nyoko up with one hand under her stomach and brought her up to the level of his own face.
"You're quite the troublemaker", he said, faking a sincere look "Bad girl." Almost like your mother, he added with an inward smirk.
Half year old little Nyoko however seemed to be anything but impressed by the swordsman's threatening looks and immediately started laughing in her sweet little voice. It was a laugh that even Zoro could not possibly resist.
He quietly chuckled to himself and turned the girl onto her back, gently setting her down onto his lap.
She blinked up at him in surprise.
"That's what you get for laughing at me…" he grinned and started tickling the little girl's stomach.
She instantly broke out in a fit of adorable high pitched giggle, wiggling and turning in her father's lap.
The young swordsman watched contently while continuing his kind punishment.
The word father still sounded odd in his ears when used to refer to him, yet somehow he no longer made any objections. He had instantly fallen for the cute little girl; and although she meant far more trouble than he had ever imagined possible, he could never be mad at her. He would try of course; children needed rules for guidance. But when she looked at him with her huge brown eyes, he knew that he would do anything for her, no matter what, no matter when.
Inwardly, the old Zoro laughed about how weak and easily manipulated he had become, but he did not care. He now had a new reason fight, and a much greater determination to win and keep on living.
Nami stretched her back with a yawn and stood up from her chair.
Her nights had turned quite short since Nyoko had been born, and rest and time for herself become very scarce. Yet all this would still not keep her from pursuing her dream. Even if it meant to work until she once again fell asleep over her map work – which happened quite frequently now.
This morning she had left Nyoko in Zoro's care. The swordsman was doing quite well with his new role, much to her surprise. He was of course not the usual first-time father, but even he could not hide the pride for his little daughter, Nami thought with a small chuckle. The little girl had him under her complete control even now when she was not yet able to talk and had barely learned to crawl; and a smirk came to Nami's face as she would pictured his commitment and protectiveness once the small girl started turning into a young woman.
The navigator was still chuckling to herself as she stepped out onto the deck, ready to relieve the swordsman from his child watching duties. Yet what she saw once she spotted the young man and the child made it hard for her to believe that he actually wanted to be released:
Zoro was gently moving a beaming little Nyoko up and down on his leg, smiling to himself.
"You do surprise me from time to time, you know?" Nami grinned as she walked over to the two and quietly sat down, leaning her back against the mast.
Zoro carefully handed her the small child and crossed his arms in front of his chest.
"I guess I even surprise myself at times…" he added with a content smirk.
There was a long silence while the red haired navigator quietly rocked her daughter to sleep.
"Ne, Zoro…", she said softly, stroking Nyoko's cheek.
The swordsman shot her a questioning look.
"Thank you…" she added, stifling a yawn.
Thank you? What was she thanking him for? He frowned and turned back toward the navigator to voice his question.
Yet right as he was about to open his mouth, the sight before him sent a grin to his face.
He shook his head and gently took the yawning girl out of her sleeping mother's arms.
"So it did turn into a habit of yours…", he grinned.
: closing Scenario Z
: commencing:
: Scenario S
"Congratulations… Sanji…"
Silence.
A long silence.
There was no need for more than those two words, just 'Congratulations … Sanji…'.
The cook slowly ran a hand through his blond hair, his mind still busy trying to comprehend what he had just heard.
The swordsman calmly nodded to himself, closing his eyes and remained leaning against the wall while the rest of the room was still fighting for comprehension.
Usopp, the marksman, was the first to regain his speech.
"Man, Nami… You're lucky that her eyebrows didn't take after his…" he commented, looking back and forth between Sanji and the little girl in Nami's arms. Out of experience, he braced himself against would most certainly be coming for him from Sanji's direction but was quite surprised when the blond cook remained completely silent, as if nailed to the ground.
Nami shot the young man a questioning look, yet he did not seem to take any notice.
"Oi… Sanji…", Usopp decided to try his luck, curiously eyeing the cook. "Are you okay?"
The blond man slowly nodded, once again running a hand through his hair, his gaze directed at nothing in particular. And while he felt a heat gradually radiating through every single part of his body, he inwardly scowled to himself.
It was for moments like these that smoking had been invented…
"Oi, Zoro." Sanji greeted the swordsman, "I was wondering where you'd gone."
Zoro did not make the effort to look up into his nakama's face but simply kept doing his single fingered pushups.
"I'm exercising, as you see." He commented plainly. Why can't you just leave me alone?
"Oh come on, stop that stupid act", Sanji answered casually leaning against the railing.
"I don't have the slightest idea what you're talking about…"
"Of course you do", Sanji added with a smirk, "Even an idiot like you should know what I mean."
Zoro hastened the pace of his exercises. Jumping at the cook and tearing him apart in midair would do no good right now. Even though he would certainly have loved to…
"Enlighten me, dartboard-brow…"
"Stop acting like you don't care." Sanji said frankly.
Silence. Only the steady beat of the swordsman's exercises rang through the cool air.
"Damnit it, Marimo…", Sanji spat at his nakama. "This isn't the time to be selfish and put on your cool act. This is about Nami and little Nyoko. They need support, from all of us. It won't help if you just distance yourself from them." He sighed. "It's not bad to show your feelings, you know?"
Zoro slightly tilted his side to take a quick glance at Sanji to then return to his training.
"I'm not like you."
Sanji grinned, running a hand through his blond hair.
"Oh, of course you're not", he inwardly chuckled to himself and shifted his weight from one leg onto the other. "But I know you still care."
The rhythm of Zoro's breathing slowed as the pace of his exercises decreased. The swordsman quietly closed his eyes and exhaled deeply.
"So what?"
Sanji sighed, looking at his nakama while shaking his head.
"How often do I have to tell you for it to get through that thick skull of yours? Stop that cold act already." He then added with a grin playing on his lips: "Talking about it won't hurt. Not that I'd want you to come to me to talk, of course…"
A grin crept to Zoro's lips.
"Not that anybody could ever make me turn to you for a talk."
Sanji chuckled to himself, and then turned around to walk back into the kitchen to prepare dinner.
"Now stop your pouting and be a man, Uncle Zoro."
The instant those words had come over the cook's lips, the swordsman rose from the ground, his back to his nakama.
"Get lost already", he muttered lowly. Yet his words instantly betrayed his cool manner, the grin obvious through the playfully threatening words. "One more thing…"
Halfway to the kitchen, Sanji turned his head to look at his nakama over his shoulder.
"Don't you ever call me 'Uncle Zoro' again, you shitty cook…"
Sanji's grin widened as he walked on and gave a short wave with his right hand.
"Oh, don't worry; the idea wouldn't even come to my mind, Uncle Marimo."
A low cry rang to the navigator's ears.
The young woman turned around under the bed sheets once more, hoping the sound had been only a singular event.
Yet the cry was repeated.
Nami sighed; she was about to pry open her eyes and push herself up and walk over to her small daughter, when another sound mingled with the low cries: the door to Nami's room slowly creaked open, followed by the sound of careful footsteps.
"Shhh… It's all right, Nyo-chan", a soft male voice whispered, "no need to wake up mommy; she needs her sleep."
The sound of rustling sheets could be heard as little Nyoko was taken out of her bed. The crying soon ebbed down as the footsteps grew more silent and further away.
"Just what…?" Nami whispered to herself.
Slowly, she swung her legs over the edge of the bed and quietly got up. On her toes, she followed the distant sound of the footsteps mingled with the soft crying sounds; her curiosity had gotten the better of her. When the footsteps had finally come to a halt, she found herself leaning against the doorway next to the kitchen.
Peeking into the small room, she came to witness a scene that involuntarily brought a smile to her face.
The blond cook carefully shifted the little girl into his right arm and picked up the milk bottle.
Testing the white liquid on his hand to make sure it was not to hot for the little girl, he seemed satisfied with the result and gently brought the bottle to Nyoko's lips. She instantly grabbed the bottle with her tiny hands and started sucking greedily.
Sanji grinned.
"Now now, no need to rush", he said gently and sat down on the table. "There's plenty more."
The young man looked down into the little girl's face. Her large brown eyes, her cute nose, the fiery hair, her sweet little laugh… it all had captivated him instantly. There was no denying that he had fallen for little Nyoko. She was the sweetest thing he had ever seen. And knowing that she was not only the child of his precious Nami-san, the angelic being that the Heavens had sent down onto the earth to grace it with her beauty, but also his own flesh and blood, made him proud beyond belief. She had not been conceived out of conscious love, that much was certainly true; but to him that made absolutely no difference.
She was his little girl. And he would do anything he had to do to protect this tiny being.
Gently, he brought his hand down to her face and brushed a way a stray strand of thin red hair. He traced her delicate skin with his fingertips, let them glide over her round cheeks, to the lips that bore the sweetest smile and finally to her own tiny fingers that were now clutching the bottle tightly.
A comforting warm sensation ran through his whole body, head to toe, as it did every single time he touched the small girl or even looked at her. Even thinking about her sent a pleasant shiver down his spine; a shiver of excitement and the wish to cradle her in his arms to keep her from the dangers and evildoers of the wide world.
As the bottle was emptying, Nyoko seemed to grow tired and full and eased her grip on the glassy container. Sanji carefully took it from her and set it into the sink. For a long moment, all he did was look at her, stare into her large, blinking eyes. With a smile, he planted a soft kiss on her forehead.
"Your daddy loves you a lot, little one, you know?" he whispered, barely audible.
"I think she feels that, Sanji-kun", a female voice suddenly sounded from the door and soft footsteps approached the two of them. Nami quietly walked up to them with a smile and, sitting down on a chair in front of Sanji, she gazed from the blond cook to their little daughter.
"Nami-san…" A slight blush crept to his cheeks, "I thought you were still sleeping."
She shook her head, stifling a yawn.
"Nope. The instant she cries, sleep's over for me", she commented, looking over at Nyoko with a soft smile.
"Oh…", Sanji muttered, seemingly a little disappointed. But he soon hid the bitter feeling behind a kind smile and looked down at the now sleeping child. "I wanted you to get enough sleep tonight; after all you've been up almost every night lately… Sorry I couldn't be there earlier, Nami-san…"
Nami carefully shook her head and smiled up at her nakama.
"It's okay, Sanji-kun, it was very kind of you", she thanked him. Suddenly, she reached up and placed a gently kiss on his cheek, "Arigato." Stifling another yawn, the young woman closed her eyes and tiredly leaned against the cook's shoulder.
The blush on his face darkened immensely; his brain was on the brink of shutting down to turn into love mode; the hundreds and thousands of tiny hearts were just waiting for their chance to pop out.
This was heaven.
No, it was even better than that.
It was…
Mellorine---
: closing Scenario S
: commencing:
: Scenario N (the one that was never supposed to be)
"Come on, Nyo-chan, say it again!" the captain pleaded in his whiny voice, bouncing up and down in front of little Nyoko, "Say it for Uncle Luffy!"
Nami shook her head, chuckling to herself. Her small daughter was now a little over half a year old and had of course easily captivated the hearts of every single member of the straw hat pirates. The fathering question however had not been solved yet, since, for some odd reason, none of the blood tests had delivered a positive result. This was, of course, a quite an unexpected turn of events and had resulted in many long discussion, arguments and accusations. Yet in the end it did not make much of a difference: all of her male nakama had fallen for Nyoko straight away and were more caring and protective than she would have ever imagined.
"Please, Nyo-chan!" Luffy whined again and then directed his words to his crew "Look, Nyo-chan can talk! Listen, everybody!"
Of course this instantly gained him everybody's attention, so that the enthusiastic boy finally turned back to the little girl and nodded to her.
"Okay, Nyo-chan, say it now."
For some odd reason, the little girl actually seemed to understand the rubber boy and faced the crew. A huge grin spread on her face, showing off her teeth, as her tiny voice determinedly sounded:
"Meshiiiiiiiiiiiiiii!" (a/n: meshi - food)
"See? Isn't that great?" the captain laughed and joined the girl with a toothy grin.
It was as if Luffy's face had split into two.
Five jaws were sent crashing to the floor loudly as the realization sunk in.
"Oh my… Guys, please tell me I'm seeing things…"the navigator muttered, unable to remove her gaze from the odd sight in front of her.
"Poor Nami…", Usopp said, shaking his head in pity. "You have my honest sympathy…"
: closing Scenario N
: The End :
a/n: It's… over… It's… finally… done… I can't… believe it… -sniff- My longest fanfiction ever has finally come to an end… And I even received the ridiculous amount of –gulp- 113 reviews so far… THANK YOU! Thank you for all of the reviews, and thank you for reading this story and thus supporting me in the best way possible!
But now you've finally seen my 'cheap way out'. As you can see, it's simple alternate endings. In the beginning, my choice for the fathering question was quite set, yet the more I wrote, the more difficult it became for me to decide. And since I wanted to see both characters, Sanji and Zoro, in both situations, I decided to go for alternate endings (the credit for the idea goes to one of my best friends, Christina!)
I'm hoping you appreciate this way of ending the story, or at least accept it. I felt like I had to give you a special ending to thank you for all the support I received, and though I doubt it, I am sincerely hoping that these endings are to your liking.
I am at the same time relieved for having finished the story, quite quickly as well, and sad, for I sincerely loved writing this story. Placing the One Piece characters in situations I would like to see them in –even though they often turned quite out of character- was much more fun than I ever imagined.
For this reason, I would love to keep writing One Piece, yet apart from a single oneshot that I will be writing down soon, I have no set ideas in mind. I would thus be grateful for challenges!
BTW: The third scenario (Scenario N) isn't meant quite seriously, I realize that, but I simply felt that adding a little but of humor and surprise to the ending wouldn't hurt.
And now a few individual words to my reviewers:
CloeyMarie: I'm really glad you like the name, and thank you for complimenting my writing style! I'm hoping this chapter and my oneshot will be to your liking as well!
Gothywolfie: Thank you for complimenting Usopp's toy! I bet the marksman would be flattered by your comment!
Omnichild: I guess labor is just different for everyone, but I'm glad I got the rest right. But I have to compliment you for naming your daughter, Naoko is one of my favourite Japanese names.
Mushi-azn: As you can see in this chapter, no one definitely ends up with Nami, but it's open to the reader's imagination to think of how the situation develops. Though I have tired adding scenes to keep both couples in the run.
Namibean: Thank you for complimenting on the name! I'm glad it seems to receive so much appreciation from everybody.
Rashie: I would never EVER do something as cruel as that, even if it sounds like a good ending. But, honestly, I couldn't bring myself to doing something like that (even though it's true that she had caring nakama)
Illusion of a Lunatic: I did kind of hurry to get the chapter up, but the thanks for that goes more to one of my best friends, who kept urging me to complete the ficcie (she already read Scenario Z and half of Scenario S before it was even done and she quite liked it).
SRHumphrey727: Thank you for reviewing all of my chapters! Zoro does seem kind of cold, I know that, but that is just his way of handling the situation, I think. He is just way too proud (or stubborn) to ever admit that he feels sad or disappointed or any of that.
Reeses: As I said before, I think labor is different for everybody. I would not say that Nami is weak, but being in that much pain (whatever it may result from), you often feel like you'll collapse any second even though you don't, just because you are simply tired. But I'm still glad to hear you like my story!
Ceestar: I said it was neither of them? Really? –scrolls back up to find where she wrote it- Depending on which ending you prefer or how you take it, it could be either of the two.