Chapter Text
It was just a casual day on the Straw Hat's ship. Sanji was in the kitchen preparing a nice meal for everyone, Nami was in her workplace looking over the newspapers, Robin was sitting in her chair enjoying her book in the nice sunshine, Usopp was goofing off with Chopper, Luffy was in his usual spot on the ship, gazing at the endless sea with a big smile, and Zoro was, well, napping, swords neatly placed within the grasp of his arms.
"Everyone! Dinner is ready!!" Sanji spoke, opening the kitchen door and hollering to everyone. Luffy was the first to react, turning his whole body towards the direction of Sanji's voice, giving out a big "woohoo!!" as he stretches his arms towards the door, making a dash for the food.
"Let's go guys, food's ready!!" Luffy exclaims mid-launch towards the door.
"Hey, wait Luffy!! Don't eat all the food!!" Usopp scrambles up on his feet and makes a sprint towards the door, Chopper following behind. Robin let's out a small sigh, a gentle smile on her face as she swiftly gets up from her seat and walks towards the gang. Nami opens her door, newspaper in hand as she spots Robin, starting up a conversation.
"Here you are Nami-swan and Robin-Chwan! I made these extra special just for you ladies!!" Sanji says not daring to hide his change in attitude at the sight of both very beautiful women.
"Thank you Sanji, this looks amazing!" Nami says, looking down at her plate, a smile on her face. Robin nods at Nami's comment, picking up her fork.
"Ooh that looks yummy!" Luffy says, starting to make a reach for Nami's food. Sanji feels anger boil in his system as he shoves his foot on Luffy's face and says,
"Your food's over there!! Go fill your face on that." Sanji directs Luffy's face towards their food and Luffy, already mesmerized by the food, makes a B-line for it. Usopp and Chopper follow behind, trying to get a share of the food.
"Oi, where's the marimo?" Sanji asks looking around but seeing no sight of that buffoon.
"I think I saw him napping near the front? Maybe check there." Robin says, taking a sip of her drink.
"Of course. I'll be right back Robin-Chwan!!" Sanji says, already in his little love trance as he hurries to the door. Shutting the door behind him, he let's out a small sigh. Walking up towards the stairs, he thinks to himself,
Of course he would be napping. What does he do other than nap? Well, he does train, but that's literally it. What a numbskull.
As Sanji sees the tuff of green hair, he rolls his eyes. Approaching him, he looks at his sleeping nakama. His arms were folded, swords on his lap. His expression seemed both prepared and calm. It was sort of...intriguing.
Sanji rolls his eyes, breaking away at his thoughts as he bonks the top of Zoro's head. Zoro stiffens up at the feeling of something on his head and makes a grab for it. Opening his eyes, he realizes it was just the damn cook.
"Oi, foods ready." Sanji says, pulling his wrist away from Zoro's grip, walking away. Zoro let's out a dragged yawn, stretching his arms over his head, adjusting his body to the waking sensation. Getting up, he brings all swords with him, following the cook.
As Sanji opens the door, his ears are immediately filled with the life in the room. Everyone is chatting away, eating Sanjis cooking, having a good time. It takes Sanji by surprise as he looks in awe. For some reason this scenery made him feel some way that he really couldn't say in words. He was...
"Are you gonna let me in or what?" Zoro speaks from behind, poking the cook on the back with the butt of his sword. Sanji is brought back to reality and moves from the door, eyeing the swordsman as he joins Luffy and the others. Sanji decides to sit next to the ladies, getting into the conversation.
"Oi Zoro, you gonna eat your food or can I eat your portion?" Luffy asks, which gains the attention of the swordsman.
"In your dreams if I'll ever let you eat my damn food!" Zoro says, picking up his fork and starting to eat his food.
Chewing on his food, he lands his gaze upon the girls and Sanji. Sanji seems to be enjoying himself sitting with them. Sanji let's out a small laugh, which startles the swordsman, making him drop his fork on his plate. This grabs the attention of the little reindeer sitting next to him.
"Zoro, you okay?" Chopper asks, nudging at his shirt. Zoro snaps his attention towards Chopper, who seemed concerned for him.
"Yeah I'm fine, just lost my train of thought for a sec." Zoro says, giving a soft smile at him. Chopper nods and goes back to eating his food. Zoro looks down at his hand, realizing its shaking very subtle.
"Seconds please!!" Luffy exclaims as he waves his plate in the air impatiently.
"Hai, hai captain, coming right up." Sanji says, moving away from the ladies table to make more food for their captain. Zoro's chest tightens as he feels the cooks shoulder graze his own. Chopper looks at Zoro curiously, tugging at his shirt once more. Zoro looks over at his little friend and tilts his head.
"If there's anything wrong you know you can tell me, I'm a doctor you know!" Chopper says, matter-of-factly. Zoro pats the top of Choppers head, giving him a reassuring smile as Chopper returns the smile in return.
Zoro turns back to his plate of food, almost finished. He picks up the fork and starts filling his mouth once more.
That was weird. What was that just now...?
.
"Thank you for the food Sanji!!" Luffy exclaims very sluggishly, arms up in the air walking towards his hammock and falling effortlessly as his snores echo within the room. Sanji rolls his eyes at his captain, Robin & Nami both head to their rooms, giving them all small goodbyes as their doors shut closed softly.
Zoro let's out a yawn, scratching the back of his neck. It was his turn to take watch of the ship. With that in mind, Zoro leaves the room, considering getting some short training in the meantime. Usopp and Chopper plop on their own hammocks and give in to the tiredness, grogging out a small 'goodnight' as their snores filled the room.
Sanji was left there with his pondering thoughts. Looking up at the ceiling, he wonders how things would've been different if he hadn't met Luffy.
Nami and Zoro were with him before he himself joined the crew, hm, I wonder how Zoro ended up joining. The swordsman never brought it up, nor told them how they met. Maybe he forgot, it has been a while since their first encounters with one another.
Sanji let's out a sigh, closing his eyes and feeling himself drift away into the abyss of sleep.
.
His thoughts are disturbed when he hears something hit the floor hard. Startled, Sanji lifts himself up, looking around the room. Rubbing his eyes, his vision adjusts to normal as he lands his eyes at the whole room. Everything seemed fine, everyone was in their hammock, Luffy didn't fell or anything. Sanji looked towards the door,
Must have been that marimo. Probably nothing to worry about.
Sanji turns over in the hammock, closing his eyes in an effort to fall asleep once more. After a couple minutes, he hears the thud again. Groaning, he gets up and decides to go check it out.
Slowly, he tip toes towards the door, hoping to not make a sound. Grabbing the door knob, he turns it slowly, hearing the click, and opening it. Closing it behind him, he hears a thud once more. It came from the front of the ship.
Nearing the front of the ship, he sees the swordsman doing pushups with one hand, the other behind his back as he goes down and up, sweat trailing down his face, the faint sound of his voice as he counts how many he's done.
He didn't seem to notice Sanji near the stairs though, continuing his training, he tries to get his pace going.
Sanji decides to leave him be and pulls out a cigarette, lighting it up and taking a puff. Exhaling the toxin, he looks up at the night sky, the moon shining on the ocean, the stars sprayed out in the sky. It sure is pretty out tonight. Maybe I should take watch more often.
He hears the thud once more. Sanji looks over at the swordsman, about to approach him and speak up, but stops himself in his tracks. Zoro punches the deck, frustration in his eye. He gets off the pushup position and sits criss cross, letting out a deep sigh, back facing Sanji.
Zoro looks on at the ocean, listening to the quiet night, the only sound visible in his ears were his ragged breathing, as well as his quickening heartbeat. Zoro looks down at his hands.
Sanji slowly leans in more closer, tying to take a good look at what's wrong. He raises his eyebrows as he sees the swordsman's hands shaking, not too badly, but still shaking. That's odd.
"Tch. What's wrong with you today?" Zoro whispers to himself, not knowing Sanji was just a few feet away. He hears the deep breaths Zoro takes, trying to calm himself down, but to no avail.
"Stop shaking. Stop shaking!!" Zoro whispers angrily to his hands, giving it the opposite effect he wanted. He let's out a groan and clasps them together, tightening his grip onto his palms. Releasing the pressure, his hands seize in shaking for the first few seconds, but picks up its pace once more.
"Oi." Startled, Zoro whips his head around quickly, seeing the cook just a few feet behind him. Zoro let's out a small exhale of relief at the sight of it just being the cook.
"Jesus you scared me. Shouldn't you be sleeping?"
"Well I would be if a dumb swordsman wasn't making noise every god damn second." Zoro grins at that, letting out a snicker.
"Sorry for ruining your beauty sleep, Mr. Prince." Zoro says sarcastically. Sanji bonks Zoro's head, taking a seat next to him.
Zoro doesn't even bother making eye contact with him, currently being busy throwing daggers at his hands. Sanji could see the frustration and confusion in his facial expression, taking in the scenery in front of him.
"Need any help?" That's the moment Zoro finally decides to avert his eyes towards the cook, narrowing his eyes at him. Zoro let's out a small hmph, and says,
"I don't want any help, but thanks-"
"No, you don't, but you sure do need it. Also you suck at asking for help." Sanji says this knowingly, turning his body towards Zoro's. Zoro was about to open his mouth, until Sanji took his hands with his. This startled Zoro. What does Sanji think he's doing??
"O-oi what are you-"
"I'm helping you of course, dumb mosshead. This has happened to me before." Having both hands gently grabbing Zoro's, Sanji gently rubs circles on the top of Zoro's hands, feeling the rough, yet somehow soft skin.
Zoro got lost in the feeling. It was making his hands stop shaking, but Zoro wasn't focusing on that. His focus was all on Sanji. His expression was so soft and gentle. His eyes were staring longingly at his hands, shoulders relaxed, posture just calm. Zoro was mesmerized, to say the least. Sanji was just taking everything away, leaving only them two.
Zoro isn't dumb. He knows he's had some sort of feeling, some sort of connection with the cook. He didn't realize when it started, nor if he knows if it'll go away, but he knew that, deep within him, he didn't want to give up this feeling.
What happened with the Foxy Pirates didn't help either. Zoro and Sanji shared a kiss. It wasn't even on purpose, of course, but it stayed on Zoro's mind for the whole while. It was just a quick wind in the air, it didn't last them even 5 seconds. But, that kiss they shared...it proved Zoro's point. This feeling, whatever you can call it, towards the cook? It won't go away anytime soon. And...Zoro didn't mind it. (Or at least he thinks it doesn't)
"-oi." Sanji says, snapping his fingers in front of Zoro's face. Zoro blinks, breaking the trance he was in just a second ago to look at the cook once more, "Your hands aren't shaking anymore." Zoro looks down at his still hands, wondering what did the trick.
"How-"
"Cooks go under a lot of stress. Everyone does, so to say. I'd usually get shaky hands once I'm under pressure, so a trick one of the chefs taught me to just do this trick. Sadly I had to do it by myself, but he said usually it'd work if someone else did it for you." Sanji says, scratching the back of his neck, remembering the good old days. The days before he was a part of the Straw Hats. Oh how time has passed. I wonder how Zeff is doing, Patty, everyone...
"Hm, I see. Well...thanks, I guess." Zoro says, looking at the side, feeling slightly uncomfortable. Sanji gives him a nod and a small smile, starting to get up.
"Oi." Zoro says, getting the attention of the cook. Zoro lays himself down on the floor, arms stretched behind his head, eye closed.
"Mind keeping me company for a couple more minutes?" Sanji was, in fact, sort of shocked to hear that mosshead say that. He lightly smiled, sitting next to Zoro, looking towards the horizon.
"That's honestly rare to hear. What happened to the marimo I know and picks a fight with the oh so lovely Prince that is moi?" Zoro elbows sanji's leg, getting a chuckle in response.
"I'm only kidding, you know. It's kind of...relaxing, just being here, nothing to worry about, nothing to disturb us." Sanji says, letting out a small exhale of relief.
"Heh, I only do it for the extra training." Sanji frowns at this, eyeing the swordsman.
"You know that overworking can hurt your body more than build up your body."
"I know I know, don't worry your Prince ass about it. I know when I'm going overboard." Sanji let's out an irritated grunt, lightly bonking on the swordsman's head. Startled once more by this, Zoro makes a grab for his wrist.
They stare at each other for what felt like eternity until Sanji let's out a dry cough that breaks their connection. Zoro lets go of his wrist, placing his arm back behind his head.
They stay in silence for at least 5, 10 minutes, just taking in their surroundings. The stars were scattered out into the sky, the moon illuminating the ocean, giving it a nice shine and color to it. Sanji let's out a puff of smoke, closing his eyes. His ears were filled with the sound of the waves lightly moving against their ship, life surrounding them. Zoro's breaths returned to normal, giving him the chance to even his beating heart from all the adrenaline he felt beforehand.
"Tell me," Sanji begins, gaining the swordsman's attention. "how did Luffy recruit you?" The question made the marimo let out a genuine chuckle, opening his eyes and looking up at the night sky.
"Oh man that was so long ago. But, I caused a small commotion, which led to me being sentenced to a months worth to being outside with no food or water. I had, 9 days left? Then all of a sudden Luffy came in and asked me to become one of his crewmates. At first I denied, but he traded to get back my swords, and in return, to join his crew. I couldn't say no to freedom, nor a fight. That scrawny guy in the Marine lied to me and was gonna put me to die before the 9 days were over, so, Luffy and I teamed up and took them down. That's from what I can say of it." Zoro takes a peak at Sanji, who looked so invested in the story. That brought a smirk onto Zoro's face, chuckling to himself and the silly recruitment.
"I should be heading to bed. Don't want the cook of the ship making delayed breakfast." Sanji says, letting out a small laugh. Zoro watches as the cook makes his way towards the steps.
"You should get some rest, too. Your body could use some." Sanji says, taking a small peak at Zoro from behind.
"Yeah yeah, I'll be there in a bit." He says rolling his eyes.
Sanji walks back towards the room, opening the door and taking one final look at the swordsman, him not realizing the stare, and shuts the door quietly.
Zoro lifts himself from his position, taking a look back at the door, watching it close shut, the cook out of sight. Letting out a sigh that he didn't knew he was holding, he looks out at the horizon. His chest felt tight. His mind was racing all over the place. His posture was so stiff compared to what it was just a couple seconds ago.
What's happening...?
.
Sanji closes the door, letting out a small yawn. Man I'm tired. Walking towards the hammock, he plops down on it, feeling his eyes get heavy. At some point, he feels his eyelids close shut as he sinks into a slumber.
.
Opening his eyes, Sanji stretches his arms and swings his legs off the hammock, getting up. Seems like everyone is still asleep. Looking over at the couch, he let's out a sort of disappointed sigh.
Getting up from the hammock, he gives himself a little stretch before opening the door. Taking one final look at the room, he closes the door, looking once more at the empty couch that would have been filled by the presence of that stupid marimo.
Sanji sighs once more, heading towards the kitchen.