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The Sunny was no longer going to be in constant use, so the Straw Hat Pirates were cleaning out the ship.
Sanji took all of the perishables out of the fridge. Nami collected all of the maps she had drawn during her time with the Straw Hats. Chopper packed up all of his medical supplies and took the sweets off of Sanji’s hands.
Every single nook and cranny of the Sunny had been cleared out and cleaned, except for one room. The Crow’s nest. Not a single member of the Straw Hats had made their way up there since the final battle that had made Luffy pirate king. Well someone had, but that was to just put an eyesore away from sight.
Everyone had been avoiding going up there, finding the most menial task, to the point where they all ended up in Franky’s workshop cleaning up scrap metal and finding miscellaneous pieces of tech. With all of them in there the task was done within about ten minutes.
Then they were all back, dawdling to avoid the crows nest. Sanji silently offered to go, climbing up alone. When he reached it, his fingers were aching for a cigarette. He lit it, and took a slow drag from it as he looked around the room. The stench of musk still clung to it, a smell Sanji would usually complain about loudly, but now there was only the swell of regret building in the back of his throat. The same feeling he got while he rid the kitchen of barrels of booze.
God, the stupid Marimo had left empty bottles in the corner. Sanji started with those. This room used to be filled with brutish grunts as the swordsman lifted weights, but now it was silent and heavy.
Not long after, Franky joined him. They silently nodded and started to take the ridiculous weights down. Only a gorilla would use those. And the stupid things had left dents in Franky’s perfect wood floors.
When they started to get down to really cleaning, Sanji found used bandages stashed away because the idiot swordsman never took advice from Chopper and rested when he should. He was always working towards his goal, a minute not working to become stronger or drinking booze was a minute wasted, and look at where that got him.
The only other person that ever joined them in the crows nest was Brook. The three men only worked in silence, an odd occurrence for most of the Straw Hats. The atmosphere felt dense, and Sanji assumed he wasn’t the only one who felt like he was choking on air, despite him putting his cigarette out over an hour ago.
When the room was cleaned, the only thing that was meant to be left was the telescope. The room had been scrubbed, but the slight smell of sweat still lingered in the air. The last thing to go were the three swords that were leaned up against the wall. Sanji took them into his arms and descended back onto the deck.
When the person who happened to cross his path as he carried the swords was Luffy, he suddenly wished there was still a cigarette hanging from his lips.
“What are you doing with those?” His captain spoke out. Eyes wide and demanding answers.
Sanji’s throat was dry. “Just clearing things out.”
“Those stay here.” Sanji had never felt this amount of hostility from his captain before. But he knew that this aggression wasn’t exactly meant to be targeting him. It was more towards… everything, the whole situation, the way that things had turned out. He knew because he felt the exact same.
“I just didn’t know what to do with them.”
“They stay here, they don’t leave the Sunny!” Luffy reached out, ready to take them from Sanji, but stopped before he ever touched them. His face was mad, but tears crowded at the corner of his eyes. The snarl turned to a deep frown and Sanji felt the pit in his stomach expand.
“You’ve got it, captain.” He agreed and put them down, momentarily.
He placed a hand on Luffy’s shoulder. “C’mon, it’s almost time for lunch. I’ve got a lot of meat to cook before it all goes bad.”
Once Sanji had seen to everyone being fed, he walked out onto the deck. He crouched down and brought the swords into his arms. Sighing, he carried them back to the crows nest.
He looked around at the now clean room, and leaned them back against the wall. Maybe Franky would make a display case for them, but then again, Mosshead probably wouldn’t have wanted them on display. For now, they could stay here.
Zoro wasn’t the world's greatest swordsman, he wasn’t at the King of the Pirates’ side when he won the title, he wasn’t here.
Zoro was the only one who’s dream went unfulfilled, but looking back Sanji knew he would have done the same. Give up his own dream for Luffy, for the crew, there’s no doubt that he would have. He just wished that Zoro didn’t have to. Because now there was a huge gaping hole in his chest that he didn’t even know Zoro had occupied.