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“Oh my god, Sanji is going to lose his mind when he finds out!” Nami cheered, pushing her phone into Zoro’s face. The green haired man lightly shoved her away, hoisting his backpack higher on his shoulder.
“Will you knock it off? I told you not to start filming until we got near the Baratie,” Zoro grumbled, dragging his luggage behind him faster.
“Oh come on! I haven’t seen you since you got deployed to Iraq!” Nami whined, continuing to film but now from a distance. “Just one smile to the camera?”
Zoro responded by flipping her off and speeding toward the airport carpark, which was nowhere near where he was heading.
“Zoro Wait! You’re going the wrong way stupid!” Nami called after him, running to catch up to him and making sure to catch his directionless ass on video.
After catching up to Zoro and dragging his ass the right way, they found their way to Usopp, who greeted Zoro by crash tackling him to the ground. Nami giggled mischievously, making sure to catch Zoro being sentimental on film.
“NAMI GO AWAY!” Zoro yelled from underneath Usopp, who wasn’t budging from his position. Eventually, he withheld his grip on Zoro and let him up off the ground. Usopp struggled to keep his composure (not that he was any good at it) but Zoro didn’t want to point it out, he missed him too.
Zoro wasn’t suppose to come back home until after Christmas but Garp felt bad that he wasn’t only missing out on Christmas but also his anniversary with his boyfriend, so he let him off early but only if he promised relax and cherish it dearly. And that Zoro owed him big time.
“I MISSED YOU SO MUCH MAN!” Usopp sniffed, trying to hold back his tears again (and failing).
Zoro pulled him into a hug again. “I missed you guys too,”
“While I’m loving the reunion, we need to hurry. Luffy, Robin and Franky are in charge of keeping Sanji occupied and I think Zoro wants to shower after his long plane ride,” Nami pointed out, breaking up the tender moment. Zoro and Usopp let go of each other and threw Zoro’s luggage in the boot before heading to Usopp and Kaya’s house.
x~x~x~x~x~x
“Everything okay Sanji?” Robin asked, taking a sip of her black coffee. She knew Sanji was still gloomy about Zoro missing Christmas, so she thought a quick stop at their favourite café might ease his mind.
Sanji sighed deeply, continuing to stir his latte absentmindedly. “It’s just... I know he’s okay and I know he can’t help it but it’s our anniversary today and I just want him here... I miss him,”
Robin reached across the table and grabbed his hand. “I understand completely, it’s hard being away from a loved one for this long. But you have to be strong for Zoro; he would want you to keep going just as if he was there,” She reassured him. “Come out with us tonight, it might help you take your mind off it,”
“Yeah okay... I might come out for a couple of hours,” Sanji replied shakily, squeezing Robin’s hand. Robin smiled fondly; while she knew full well what the plan was, she knew that Sanji also needed a break. She didn’t push it any further, Sanji was on the verge of breaking down again and she knew it would hurt Sanji’s pride if he started crying out in public.
“That’s okay, we’re heading down to the Baratie for dinner at about seven. You want us to pick you up?” Robin asked, letting go of Sanji’s hand to sip at her coffee.
“Yeah that would be lovely, thank you,” Sanji replied quietly, finally taking a sip of his latte. “A distraction might be nice,”
Robin nodded knowingly and smiled, hoping Sanji wouldn’t hate them after tonight.
x~x~x~x~x
“Wow Zoro, you’re looking fine!” Nami hollered while Usopp wolf whistled in the background. Zoro had decided to go with his army service uniform since it was meant for formal occasions and seeing his boyfriend after being deployed for six months counted as a formal occasion, also it made his ass look superb in it. Nami got her phone out again and started filming Zoro pinning his medals to his jacket, making sure to move in extra close to his face to annoy him.
“Why are you being such a pain?” Zoro grumbled, turning towards Nami who turned her phone off and put it on the bedside table.
“Because, I haven’t seen you in six months,” Nami sighed, folding her arms over her chest. “I missed you okay?” she finally admitted, huffing and adverting her eyes.
While Zoro wanted to poke fun at Nami admitting she had emotions, he knew it was hard on the gang being deployed for a long time. So he gave her the benefit of the doubt and pulled her into a tight hug. Nami returned the gesture by squeezing him as tightly as she could, trying not to cry into his shoulder.
“I know you did, it’s okay,” he murmured softly.
Kaya had come in and let them know that they were going to head out soon. The main plan for tonight was Usopp was going to drop off Kaya and Nami at the Baratie saying he was going to be joining them later as he had to finish something up at work and when Kaya texted him that Sanji had arrived, him and Zoro would show up and surprise Sanji. But Zoro and Usopp had something else planned as well that they didn’t want the gang knowing about.
While Zoro was deployed in Iraq, he formulated a plan with Usopp that when he returned, he was going to propose to Sanji. He didn’t know when he was going to be back so he made sure that he sent Usopp a general idea of what he wanted the ring to look like and that he would pay Usopp in full for everything. But the long nosed man decided to cut Zoro some slack and said he only needed half, he had been deployed for six months for Christ Sake! The least he could do was design a ring for his best friend. Usopp had hidden Sanji’s engagement ring at his workshop, he couldn’t risk the word slipping out just incase Sanji had caught wind of it.
The four of them jumped into the car; excited that tonight was finally happening. Zoro’s heart was pounding in his chest, this would be the first time in half a year that he saw the cook and frankly, he was excited.
x~x~x~x~x
Sanji, Franky and Robin arrived at the restaurant just past seven, seeing Luffy and Chopper already devouring bread sticks while Nami tried to settle them down.
“YOU CAN’T JUST EAT THE BREAD LUFFY!” Nami growled, whacking him upside the head.
“But it’s free Nami,” he pleaded, trying to steal another breadstick. Nami huffed in annoyance, rolling her eyes knowing Luffy wasn’t going to listen to her. Luffy continued to stuff his face when he saw Sanji enter, waving his hands in the air like an idiot.
“SANJI! YOU MADE IT!” Luffy yelled with a mouth full of food.
“Yeah... I’m here,” Sanji sighed, he wasn’t in the mood to argue with Luffy. Frankly looked over at Robin worriedly, knowing it must’ve been hard for him to come out. He knew how hard it was being away from the one you love so he understood why he wasn’t his usual self.
Sanji pulled up a chair between Kaya and Chopper, knowing that they were the least annoying out of the group to deal with tonight. He just wanted to be at home in a cacoon of blankets, skyping with his boyfriend and wishing for him to come home. But he knew he needed to come out tonight, it wasn’t doing a lot for his mental health being cooped up at work and his apartment all the time.
“I’m so glad you could make it out Sanji, I know it’s hard but I think Zoro would’ve liked you to come out and enjoy yourself,” Kaya smiled, trying to ease Sanji’s distress.
“Thanks Kaya, I know he wants me to keep doing my thing but it’s just... hard sometimes you know?” he sighed solemnly. “Hey, where’s Usopp? He almost never leaves your side,”
“Oh he forgot he had a presentation tomorrow morning and left his laptop at his workshop, he should be around shortly. He said he’d give me a call if anything went wrong,” She smiled, taking a sip of her water.
“Wow, how do you forget something like that?” Sanji asked comically, relaxing into his seat.
“He’s been busy with orders, must’ve just slipped his mind I guess,” Kaya shrugged.
x~x~x~x~x~x
“Okay so we all good? You got the ring and everything?” Usopp asked, pulling up in the Baratie parking lot.
“Ring’s in my pocket, I’m pretty sure I have everything,” Zoro replied, moving the flowers out of the way so they didn’t get crushed while he got out of the car. “Is it normal that I’m nervous? Like he’s going to be so mad that I lied to him,”
“Hey relax, he’s going to be stoked that you’re home,” Usopp reassured, putting a comforting hand on his shoulder.
Zoro took a deep breath; there was no turning back now. It was now or never and while he would prefer it to be never, he wanted to see his cook again. The long months spent skyping with shitty internet connection and sending each other love letters (because Sanji is a hopeless romantic), he needed to see his cook.
Usopp walked ahead, with Zoro following close behind to the entrance of the Baratie, eying out the table. Sanji was face away from the entrance, which was fantastic. The restaurant wasn’t as busy as it usually was but the tables were still full. Usopp had locked eyes with Luffy and Robin and smirked, knowing that the moment they had planned was finally here.
“Hey guys! Sorry I’m late, I ran into someone I knew,” Usopp greeted, Zoro recognising it as the queue to come inside. Zoro followed a little behind Usopp, holding the bouquet of flowers close to his chest. Other patrons in the restaurant seemed to understand what was going on and were whispering amongst themselves quietly. It was putting Zoro on edge; he wanted to throw up and run away but he had waited too long to see Sanji and he’d be damned if he had to wait any longer.
“Long time no see, shit-cook,” he said, watching a shiver run down the blonde’s spine before he spun around as if to check if he was hearing correctly.
Sanji couldn’t fucking believe it. There was the man that he wanted to see for so long right in front of him. He’s dreaming, he had to be dreaming. Sanji could feel the tears stinging his eyes. “You bastard!” Sanji seethed as he jumped out of his seat and into the arms of the marimo, locking his legs around his waist. Zoro had just managed to catch him, keeping him in a tight hold as he could feel Sanji sobbing into his shoulder.
“Hey it’s okay, I’m here,” he murmured into Sanji’s hair, still in shock that this was real. Sanji pulled his head off of Zoro’s shoulder and crashed his lips against Zoro’s. God he wanted to do that for so long! While the kiss was short, it was enough for Sanji to realise that this was real. That this was all real. Zoro was back and he wasn’t as alone anymore.
“Happy 2 years, by the way,” Zoro smiled, kissing him again. While Sanji welcomed the kiss, he lightly shoved his chest, still annoyed that the marimo had managed to pull one up on him.
“I’m mad at you, you lied to me,” Sanji pouted, jabbing a finger in his chest. “Did the whole crew know?”
“Yeah, I told Usopp I was coming home early and they wanted me to surprise you,” Zoro said, slowly lowering Sanji back to the ground. “I think it’s quite sweet, really,”
Sanji finally decided to take in the marimo; tall, broad and looking as sexy as ever in his army service uniform. Zoro presented the lovely bouquet of roses to Sanji, using it as a segway to get down on one knee.
“Sanji,” Zoro started, noticing how the blonde’s face changed as he realised what was happening. “You have been everything I wanted and more. You are one of the best thing’s that has ever happened to me and I want to thank whatever god exists that you’re in my life. And I want you in my life forever,” he reached down into his pant pocket and pulled out a little box. Sanji was crying again, holding the flowers dumbly in his hand as their group of friend’s all roared with excitement. “Your standard of neat and tidy is annoyingly high and I hate it when you buy too many pillows for our bed; But I am willing to put up with that just as long as I can be yours,” Zoro popped the box open to a beautifully crafted silver band, with two little sapphires in the middle. “So, Sanji Black, will you marry me?”
Sanji dropped to his knees and tackled the marimo to the ground. Twice in one night that god-forsaken marimo has made him cry, he was going to pay when they got home.
“Yes I’ll marry you, you stupid marimo bastard,” he mumbled into Zoro’s collar. Zoro tightened the hug, starting to feel his eyes water from all this emotion. “I don’t think I’ve ever cried this much,”
“Happy tears right?” Zoro smirked, slipping the ring onto his finger.
“Shut up, I’m still mad at you,” Sanji grumbled, sniffling and cleaning up his face.
“That’s fine, I’ve got the rest of our lives to make it up to you,” Zoro smiled fondly as their table of friends and the entirety of the restaurant continued to cheer. Sanji locked eyes with his marimo and kissed him passionately, making sure that bastard knew how he felt.
“I love you Sanji,”
“I love you too, Zoro,”
Fin