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Sanji didn’t know what compelled him to take the thing with him when they docked. He hadn’t touched it in months, hadn’t had the time. But here he was, walking down the streets of the current city they were in, a small satchel slung across his torso carrying a sketchpad and a few pencils.
He wouldn’t call himself an artist by any means. It was purely a hobby, something he did in his spare time. He’d hardly thought about the sketchbook since leaving the Baratie, and honestly he was a little surprised to find when going through his things. It had been almost new, only the first few pages having anything on them, and in a way he felt it was appropriate.
He came out of his thoughts as a colorful sign caught his attention. A large sea king leapt across a blue background, bright yellow words underneath of it reading: WORLD’S GREATEST AQUARIUM!
He looked at the sign skeptically, and after a moment shrugged and walked in the direction the sign indicated to go. It wasn’t long before he saw the huge building, the same blue color as the sign had been, with the same bright yellow words above the entrance. A small group of teens hung around by the door, and by their state of dress and careless attitude, he guessed they lived on the island.
“Excuse me, can you tell me about this place?” Sanji asked, pointing to the supposed aquarium.
One of the group, a teen with orange hair and multiple piercings, smirked. “Can’t you read? It’s an aquarium, duh.”
Sanji’s frowned, but before he could retort another from the group smacked the back of his head.
“Dumbass, of course he can! You know what he meant.” The teen turned to him, smiling apologetically from behind bright purple bangs. “Sorry about him. Anyway, this aquarium holds all of you average creatures, fish and turtles and everything. But what makes it the best,” he lowered his voice, “is that we have sea kings in there!”
Sanji blinked. “You’re joking right?”
The teen shook his head. “No way man! Ya see, the guy who owns the place is a Devil Fruit user! He can control the sea kings, make them totally tame!” The rest of the group shook their heads enthusiastically.
Sanji didn’t believe a word of it, but nodded and thanked them anyway. Might as well check it out for himself, if only to sate his curiosity.
The interior of the aquarium was much cooler than outside, and rather quiet. He looked around, examining the structure, and was surprised when a brochure was suddenly thrust in his face. He blinked and took a step back, turning to focus on the person holding the brochure. She looked the same age as the teenagers standing outside, with the same purple hair as the one he had talked to.
“Welcome to the aquarium sir! You’re free to explore as you wish, as long as you don’t disturb any of the animals. There are signs to tell you where everything s, and a map inside of the brochure here.” She pushed it at him again, and once he took it she sighed.
“And with that, my shift is done. Have fun!” She waved at him as she walked towards the door he had just come through. “Don’t get eaten either!”
The door closed behind her, and Sanji had to take a second to process what had just happened. He shook his head and sighed, opening the brochure and examining the map within. After a moment he folded it back up and stuck it in his pocket, deciding to just follow the signs set up around the place instead.
The first room was full of display cases, filled with fossils and artifacts pulled from the sea floor. A diagram of a ship covered one wall, apparently the ship of whoever had collected all the pieces on display. On another wall was a variety of gems and treasures, also recovered from the sea floor, and Sanji considered bringing Robin and Nami back with him later. The two of them would love to look at all the room had to offer. He smiled, moving on to the next room, following a path made to look like fish scales. While his lovely crew mates would enjoy the treasure and artifacts, he wasn’t sure what they would think of the rest of the place. He wouldn’t want to bore them, after all.
The next room was much larger, with several other paths leading off of it. In the center of the area sat a massive skeleton, hanging from the ceiling and encircled by velvet ropes on the ground. A sign standing before it said it was once a massive whale, reminding Sanji for a moment of Laboon. He smiled nostalgically and looked around at the paths laid out around him. He couldn’t see what they led to, each path curving after a few feet, and so he picked one at random.
As he turned the corner, he noticed that it was significantly darker ahead. The room itself held no lights to speak of, the only light coming from the animals in the tanks that circled the room. He let out a soft gasp, taking in the sight before him.
The tanks were full of jellyfish, each one a different color and glowing softly. Most of them were fairly large, a few smaller ones in their own tanks. In the center of the room was a large tube that disappeared into the floor and ceiling, a massive golden jellyfish lazily floating inside. Benches circled the tube as well as the walls of the room, and Sanji let his feet carry him towards one. The second he sat his hands were reaching into his bag, pulling out his sketchbook and pencils. He flipped to a new page, watching the tank in front of him for a moment before taking one of the pencils in hand.
He couldn’t tell how long he was there, sketching one tank and then moving to another, but it was long enough for him to completely fill three pages. He almost missed the sound of footsteps behind him, but he didn’t miss the body that plopped down on the bench next to him.
“Didn’t know you liked drawing, cook.”
Sanji rolled his eyes, but didn’t stop what he was doing. “Lost again, hm?”
Zoro scoffed, but didn’t answer otherwise. It was enough of an affirmative for Sanji, who went back to his drawing. The swordsman didn’t say anything else, settling against the large tank in the center and watching Sanji. The gaze was slightly unnerving, but he didn’t let it faze him. After a while he was lost in his drawing again, looking at the tank in front of him every so often but otherwise ignoring everything else.
He glanced up when he felt Zoro shift beside him, only a little surprised to see he had dozed off. The glow from the jellyfish cast the features of his face in sharp detail, and before Sanji’s brain caught up with him his hands were moving to a clean page and beginning to draw the basic shapes for a human. He paused, staring at the swordsman, and then shrugged, continuing with the drawing. The moss head wouldn’t mind, and if he did, Sanji would just kick him hard enough to make him forget about it.
The drawing quickly changed from just a quick sketch to a full colored picture of him asleep against the tank. Luckily the swordsman was a very heavy sleeper, and he barely moved while Sanji worked. Eventually he called it done, and compared what he had drawn to the living thing. It wasn’t perfect by any means, but it wasn’t bad either. He set the sketchbook to the side, intending to gather up his things and move on, but he found he couldn’t take his eyes off of his sleeping companion.
“Are you done then?”
Sanji jumped at the unexpected voice, falling off the bench in the process. He watch Zoro blink his eyes open, yawning and stretching his arms above his head.
“How—how long have you been awake?”
Zoro shrugged, reaching for the sketchbook. He picked it up gently, examining the page. “A while now. I was gonna say something but figured it would be best not to move until you were done.”
Sanji frowned and ignored the heat creeping up his cheeks. Zoro set the sketchbook back down, standing and holding his hand out for the cook.
“I’m not mad or anything, don’t know why you’re getting all worked up.”
Sanji sighed and took the hand, letting the swordsman pull him up. “Some people find it rude.”
Zoro gave him a knowing look. Instead of saying anything though, he simply picked the book up again, looking at the picture.
“You’re pretty good, ya know?”
Sanji scoffed. “Not really. It’s just a hobby anyway.”
Zoro shrugged. “Doesn’t mean you can’t be good at it.” He closed the book, handing it to Sanji. “I mean, cooking was a hobby for you once, wasn’t it? I can’t imagine you were just born a chef.”
Sanji paused, caught off guard by the statement. He quickly dispelled any thoughts before they could form however, and placed the sketchbook in his bag.
“So why here anyway?” Zoro asked, crossing his arms over his chest. “You’d think we’d have enough of looking at animals that come out of the ocean.”
“Well, they didn’t have a zoo, so I took what I could get.” Sanji said, gathering the rest of his things. “Besides, I was curious about their supposed sea king.”
Zoro blinked a couple times, then burst out laughing. “Oh, that’s what it’s supposed to be? I saw it in one of the rooms I went into before this one. I think it’s just a painted sheet over a metal frame.”
Sanji chuckled. “I figured as much.” He looked around the room they were in. “But I guess the rest of it is pretty nice. Anyway, come on, let’s get out of here.”
Zoro followed behind him with one last look at the room, and only protested a bit when Sanji grabbed his arm to pull him in the opposite direction from where he was headed. The cook let his hand slip lower, until he was grasping the swordsman’s.
Zoro didn’t protest that at all.
“What has your attention so firmly, Sanji?”
Sanji turned and smiled widely at Robin. “Just looking at some flowers, though their beauty is nothing compared to yours.”
Robin chuckled softly, moving to crouch beside him. “Flowers, huh? I didn’t know you had any interest.”
Sanji shrugged, moving his legs a bit. He had been crouching in the middle of the field for a half hour almost, and his knees were starting to feel it. “Not really. Not even sure what kind they are.”
Robin hummed, looking closer at the flowers. The stalk was tall and straight, with several red flowers growing off of it. After a moment she nodded. “I believe these are gladiolus flowers.”
“Gladiolus, huh?”
“Indeed. They are said to symbolize honor and strength of character.” She turned her attention to the sketchbook settled across the cook’s knees. “So when did you start drawing?”
Sanji shrugged again. “Since I was a kid I guess. Didn’t pick it back up until recently though.”
“I see. It is a good to have a hobby, especially with lives as chaotic as ours.”
“Maybe. Anyway, shall I accompany you back to the ship?”
“I would like that, thank you.”
Sanji stood, holding a hand out for Robin to help her up.
“Can I draw you?”
Zoro looked up, having not expected anyone to come up into the crow’s nest. Sanji let the hatch close behind him, holding his sketchbook and a pack of pencils under one arm.
“I told you I don’t mind.”
“I know, but I feel better asking.”
Zoro shrugged. “Yeah, ok. Uh, what do you want me to do?”
Sanji looked around the crow’s nest. “I don’t know, what do you usually do up here?”
“Sleep. Train.”
Sanji scoffed. “So what you do all the time.”
“What, were you expecting some grand secret?”
“Well, you’re just up here so much.”
“It’s quiet. And the view is nice.”
Sanji nodded, sitting on one of the benches and flipping to a clean page. Zoro glanced at him, picking up where he had left off on his push ups. The cook didn’t speak, and Zoro barely noticed when he leaved, slipping out of the hatch and down to the deck with barely a sound.
It became a routine, almost, Sanji joining him in the crow’s nest with his sketchbook. Sometimes he drew Zoro, sometimes he added details to drawings he had done previously. Sometimes he didn’t draw anything, simply sitting up there while Zoro trained, watching him or looking out the window.
Zoro was waiting for him when he came through the hatch one day, handing him a roughly wrapped box.
“I heard you mention your birthday was in March, but I didn’t know which day so, uh, happy birthday.” Zoro said, looking at the wall determinedly.
Sanji stared at the package, letting a small smile overtake his face. “You were close, you know. It’s actually tomorrow.” He found the edge of the paper, tearing it gently and letting it fall to the floor. It was a large tin of coloring pencils, over one hundred easily, and the smile grew.
“Thank you, Zoro.”
Zoro grunted, but Sanji saw the hint of red that crept under the collar of his shirt. He stepped forward, pausing to judge the swordsman’s reaction, and when he leaned in Sanji met him half way. The kiss was soft and brief, and it wasn’t nearly enough for either of them. They came back together as if they were starving for touch, Zoro’s hands deftly undoing the buttons of Sanji’s jacket and diving underneath, gripping his waist. The pulled apart slowly, neither wanting to rush into things yet also not wanting to let go. In the end, they wound up on one of the benches, Zoro leaning against the wall and Sanji leaning against him.
“So, was that also a birthday present, or—”
“No, just… something I’ve wanted to do for a while.”
Sanji hummed, turning his head to press a kiss to the underside of his jaw.
The sketchbook slowly started to fill, page by page. Most of them were drawings of the crew, the ship, the islands they visited. Sanji flipped through the pages slowly.
There, a drawing of Nami pouring over her maps, brow creased in concentration.
Another of Luffy and Usopp, fishing off the side of the ship.
Brook playing his violin as everyone danced.
Chopper and Robin, discussing a book the reindeer was holding.
Franky lifting a startled animal over his head (Sanji still wasn’t sure what it was, but it had been large, angry, and very tasty).
Zoro…
There were more pictures of Zoro than anything else: practicing with his swords, sleeping against the mast, leaning against the railing watching over the more rambunctious members of the crew (Luffy had nearly fallen overboard one too many times for him to be unsupervised). Sanji flipped to the beginning of the book, a page full of jellyfish in tanks, and smiled fondly.
“Quite a lot of memories you hold there.”
Sanji looked up, not having noticed Brook approach. “Yeah, I guess so.”
Brook hummed. “I must say, you do know how to capture a person’s good side. It’s enough to make me blush; at least, if I still had skin it would be!”
Sanji chuckled, watching the musician walk off to join the rest of the crew. A nearby island was having some sort of festival, and while it was a ‘no pirate’s allowed’ event, the fireworks could be seen from far off. Sanji flipped to a clean page, grabbing his pencils. Franky had created a personalized deck chair for everyone, and they were all set out so everyone could watch the show. Luffy was far too excited to stay seated, instead bouncing between his seat and the figurehead. Everyone else was content to sit and watch: Chopper munching on a large piece of cotton candy, Brook playing nothing in particular on his violin, Usopp and Franky making more adjustments to the deck chairs, Robin and Nami giggling as they talked.
Sanji frowned, pausing in his drawing to look up and count heads. One was missing, a certain green one. A shadow suddenly fell over him, and strong arms wrapped around his waist.
“Why aren’t you with the others?” he asked.
“I could ask you the same.” Zoro said, leaning forward a bit more and pressing a kiss to his cheek. “But I suppose it is a nice view from back here.”
Sanji looked at him, the lazy smile stealing across Zoro’s face and the fondness in his eyes. It made his heart flutter, and he couldn’t help but smile as well.
“It is. A very nice view indeed.” Sanji said, looking pointedly at the swordsman.
Zoro’s smile grew, and he hugged him tighter. “Sap.”
“Your sap though.”
Zoro nodded, letting go of him with one last kiss, walking over to join the others. Sanji smiled, turning back to the book and adding the swordsman in. Laughter filled his ears, and Sanji set the sketchbook aside. He could finish the details later. Being with his crew was more important then capturing the moment from afar. Zoro looked up as he sat beside him, reaching out and taking his hand. He pressed a gentle kiss to the cook’s knuckles, running his thumb over them afterwards. Sanji sighed happily, leaning against the swordsman and watching the fireworks.
Keeping the memories on paper was nice, but living them was better.