Chapter Text
"Zoro! Wait!"
Zoro turns around abruptly and his eyes go wide when he sees Sanji running on the dock toward him.
How the hell did the waiter find him?!
He doesn’t know Sanji has been following clues and asking people for days.
Once Sanji reaches him, he has to stop, doubled over, his hands on his knees trying to get his breath back. "Don't-" Sanji pants, "don't leave the Straw Hat pirates."
Zoro blinks, and he's about to start explaining once more to Sanji how important his dreams are, Sanji can read it on his face, so he simply lifts a hand and shakes his head, hoping it will stop Zoro.
It does.
"What I meant was-don’t leave
me
alone with
them
, I don’t know how to handle them and they seem quite the bunch."
Sanji takes in the stunned expression on Zoro's face and mentally pats himself on the back.
"I still need to get basic supplies, buy a few clothes and another couple of things before I'm ready to leave, so I was wondering if you'd mind helping me out. I mean-you’re used to the nomad life, are you? I’ve lived in the same place all my life, so I’m not really sure of what I’m going to need. Besides, you know what they like to eat, and if I have to make them accept me I need to be ready to cook something spectacular, right? We could leave in the morning. Is it ok? Because if it's not, I mean, we could-"
Zoro cuts him mid-sentence, wrapping an arms around Sanji's neck and a thumb on his lips.
Sanji expects a kiss, and Zoro does get closer, but he stops mere centimetres from Sanji's mouth.
He's so close, in fact, that Sanji can feel Zoro's warm breath on his face.
"What made you change your mind?" Zoro asks, breathless, like he's the one who has run all the way.
Sanji's smile could split his face in two.
"I've always felt lonely," he explains, "life twisted my heart and put me in the dark, choked by doubts and walls I built around myself without realizing it. I'm used to not letting fear control me, and that's what I intended to do this time, too, I just didn’t understand that this wasn’t fear of the unknown but excitement for the beginning of a new chapter. That's why I let you go, I didn't know the answer would be right there."
Sanji's hands cover Zoro's, drawing soothing circles on the other guy's slightly trembling knuckles. "I've been looking for something my whole life, Zoro, but somehow, some way I couldn't see the one time it actually came to me. I didn't recognize it for what it was until it was everywhere around me, I had to fall to see that you were right in front of me."
Zoro's eyes soften and he lets out a sound that Sanji will tease him for forever, even though Zoro will repeat a thousand times that no, he wasn't
giggling
.
When their lips finally meet, and their chests are lined up, while his fingers dig into Zoro's biceps, Sanji suddenly remembers what his mom used to tell him when he was a kid.
Faith can lift you up, and if you have enough of it you can reach a new beginning: love can withstand a storm, and in the final hour you'll find the joy in living.
There's safety in Zoro's arms, even though Sanji will never admit it out loud, and wherever he goes Sanji will follow, because from now on Zoro is part of the world he wants to make.
Sanji's eyes flutter closed when Zoro's mouth substitutes his fingers lacing on his neck to press a few wet, tender kisses on his skin.
"Don't let me go, Sanji," he begs, "you are my tomorrow."
Sanji looks up at the sky and silently promises he will.
************************
"...Sanji?"
Garp enters the kitchen of the Baratie and arches an eyebrow when he finds it empty. He huffs, then sits in the chair he finds in a corner. Crossing his arms on his chest, he wonders where the waiter/chef has gone: he has to talk to him,
urgently
.
His expression turns worried for a second before he shrugs.
Oh, well, he maybe can't find Sanji and Zoro right that second, but come on, how long can they hide for? He has eyes and ears everywhere, he’ll pinpoint their location soon enough.
It's not like they have any pirating experience, or a lot of money to travel. And even if they did, and managed to join the crew before he gets to them, what's the problem?
They will simply get Luffy and his misfits louder and easier to spot, and he will be able to find them once they start stirring trouble.
Win/win situation.
Besides, what kind of damage can they do anyway?