Work Text:
He didn’t even remember the fall. One moment he was on top of the cliff trying to escape from the murderous pirates chasing them. The next he was at the bottom of the cliff with rocks scattered around him and a sharp pain in his right leg.
“Sanji!” Nami shouted from the top of the cliff, and that shook him out of his stupor enough to sit up. The edge of the cliff was still weak, and if Nami got any closer, she’d fall down too.
“I’m alright,” he shouted back up, “I’ll be right up.”
He moved to stand, but his leg wouldn’t let him. The foot was completely turned around, flopping uselessly at an angle that was just wrong, while the clearly broken bone protruded out of his leg. Not good.
He poked the tip of the protruding bone cautiously, sending a sharp jolt of pain through his leg that made him hiss. Very not good.
A cloud appeared next to him, and he quickly shucked off his torn jacket to cover the broken leg as Nami slid ever so elegantly down the cloud path she’d made, bulging bag of treasure in tow.
“There was no need to come all the way down here,” he gave her his most reassuring smile as the clouds evaporated into mist, “Really, I’m fine.”
“It, was a nasty fall,” she knelt down and touched his head gently. He preened at the attention until she pulled away, his blood on her hand, “You’re bleeding.”
“Head wounds tend to bleed,” he assured her, “I assure you, it looks much worse than it is.”
She glanced around the forest clearing anyway, eyes landing on his torn up jacket. She went to grab it, and he was too slow to stop her, wincing in pain as his leg was revealed.
“Shit,” she cursed under her breath as she saw his mangled leg. The color drained from her face, as if she wanted to look away but couldn’t.
“It’s fine,” he snatched his jacket back from her slack grip and covered his leg again. The last thing he wanted to do was worry or inconvenience her, “Really. It’s not that bad.”
“Not that bad?” she shook her head and glanced up at his face, “Sanji, your bone is sticking out.”
Shouts rang out from the top of the cliff. The pirates they had stolen from were catching up to them, and in the open like this they were completely exposed.
Nami’s eyes widened in fear as she glanced back at his leg, “Can you even stand?”
“I’ll be fine,” he waved her away. If he could get himself standing, he could probably hold them off for a bit, even with the broken leg. Not very long, but it could at least buy Nami enough time to get away, “Just go. I’ll meet you back at the ship.”
Something in her eyes hardened as she picked up his jacket again. She stared at the broken leg for a bit before deciding, “I’ll have to put it in a splint and carry you.”
“What? No,” he shook his head, but she was already tearing off the sleeves from his jacket, “I’ll be fine, really.”
“I’m not leaving without you.” She stated as she glanced around for a suitable stick.
“You can’t carry both me and the treasure,” he pointed out. She glanced at the overstuffed bag at her feet, so he continued, “I’ll be fine, promise.” The pirates’ shouts grew louder, coming from around them in the forest now, “Just go.”
“You only have one leg. If you don’t remember, you fight with your legs. You wouldn’t last ten seconds.” She snatched two sturdy looking sticks off the ground and laid them by his leg, “I’m not leaving you behind.”
“Nami-”
“No.” She yanked his face into her hands, effectively shutting him up as his face grew red, “Stop arguing. I’m not leaving you and that’s final.”
“Okay,” he relented, shoulders slumping as he glanced around the forest, “But we better move qui-”
A loud crack sounded, and a new burst of pain spiked through his leg. He bit his fist to muffle a scream and pressed his other fist against the dirt. His vision blurred as he took deep breaths through his nose.
“Sorry.”
He glanced up at Nami, his vision clearing once he saw her apologetic face, and relaxed despite everything.
“I had to reset your leg for the splint.” She quickly tied the sticks to his leg around his ankle and knee, “Did it hurt?”
“Barely felt it,” he said with a shaky grin.
She helped him to his feet, leaning him against a tree to balance on his good leg. He could hear the pirates crashing their way through the forest. A quick scan with his Haki told him they’d be here in moments.
“Okay,” she extended her climatact and turned her back to him, kneeling slightly, “Climb on.”
He hesitated for a moment, considering once more insisting that she save herself, but knew he would just be wasting time. Dutifully, he climbed on her back, grasping her shoulders tight as she lifted him up.
She tucked the climatact under his legs for support, took a moment to adjust to the weight, then took off as fast as she could through the forest.
She tried her best to keep him steady, but the speed jostled his hurt leg nonetheless. He gripped her shoulders tight and grit her teeth as he tried to block out the pain.
“I’m sorry,” she apologized between pants of her own, “I’ll get you to Chopper soon.”
He closed his eyes and breathed deeply, the scent of oranges and ink and flowers coming off her making him feel safe despite everything.
“I know you will.”
Chopper sentenced him to six weeks bedrest, no exceptions. If he was doing well and Chopper gave him the okay he could maybe be allowed back in the kitchen on crutches to cook meals again in three to four weeks.
It was a bad break, he stressed. He was lucky he didn’t lose the leg.
It didn’t stop Sanji from being bored as hell.
He was tracing the elaborate dragon Usopp had drawn on his cast when the door to the kitchen opened. Nami came in carrying a bowl of soup, and he thought he might have died back there, because surely this must be heaven.
“Oh, Nami, my beautiful savior,” he said as he fell back on the pillows, “I’m feeling faint, you may have to tenderly feed me.”
She hummed in consideration before placing the bowl on the tray Chopper had set up for him on the bed, “If you’re feeling well enough to act like an idiot again, surely you can handle a spoon.”
He sighed, but sat up and started eating.
She sat down in the chair next to the bed, fingers tracing over Luffy’s scrawl of a signature and his shit attempt at their jolly roger below it.
He watched her, her delicate fingers jumping to Robin’s elegant flower design, Chopper’s hoof print, and Franky’s bold star.
“Did everyone sign?” She asked eventually.
“So far, yeah,” he gestured at the anatomically accurate whale shark Jinbei drew by his toes and the beginnings of a musical score Brook started by his knee.
“Even Zoro?”
He sighed, but gestured to the soul of his foot where the mosshead had scribbled the word ‘IDIOT’ as big as he could, “Shithead brought in a mirror to show me, just to make sure I knew it was there.”
“Of course,” she sighed, picking up the marker left on the bedside table, “Should I sign too?”
He perked up immediately. The thought of her lovingly adding her name to the collection of their friends, maybe even throwing in a secret ‘I love you’ or a few hearts just for him, was making him giddy. “Absolutely!”
Then he remembered that she knew exactly what was under the cast. He didn’t want to burden her any more than he already had, so he quickly backtracked, “I mean, if you want to that is...”
He trailed off, but she’d already popped the cap on the marker and was writing her name in her bouncy handwriting. When she was done, she ended it with the same pinwheel and mikan design tattooed on her shoulder, adding a little extra detail to the leaf. She leaned back and appraised it for a moment, then began doodling waves below it.
“Did you really think I would leave you behind?” She asked suddenly, “For treasure?”
“Of course not,” he answered. Nami would do many things for treasure, but abandoning her friends would never be one of them.
“Then why did you ask me to?”
He blinked, staring at her, but she wasn’t looking at him, too busy adding details to the crest of her waves.
“I just,” he sighed and looked away, “I didn’t want you to lose your treasure, or risk being in danger by having to save me too.”
Silence, then, “You’re worth more than a bag of treasure.”
“Sure,” he said automatically but with no real conviction.
She hummed in displeasure, clearly not believing him, “We’ll have to work on that. I’ll just have to remind you of that more often.”
He turned to look at her, “You’re presence in my life is more than enough. Please, Nami, you don’t have to go out of your way to-”
“And,” she continued, cutting off his rambling, “We’re crewmates, you know.” She gave him a soft smile that made his heart flutter, “We’re supposed to look out for each other. Saving you is never a burden.”
They looked at each other for a long moment, before he said, “Thank you. For saving me.”
She grabbed his hand and gave it a squeeze, “Anytime.”
His eyes morphed into hearts, and he knew he couldn’t have died because no heaven could be this wonderful.
“You’re such a moron,” Nami sighed with affection as she released his hand. She gently patted her signature on his cast as she stood up, “Finish that soup and get some rest, okay?”
“Whatever you say, my dear,” he beamed at her as she rolled her eyes and left.
He went back to his soup, a warm feeling of contentment settling into his chest.