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“It’s just- I don’t know why you still stick around, Marimo.” Sanji’s shoulders deflated, slowly placing his knife onto the chopping board. “I’m difficult. I keep picking a fight with you and I can’t stop flirting with women- knowing it drives you insane.”
“I can’t give you more- what you want- because you’re a man and I’m..” A coward. Somehow, his already slumped frame falls even more, now trembling slightly, “Luffy chose me as his cook, but you didn’t choose me, choose this . I’m hard work, hard to love; Just overall difficult.”
The hesitation in his words is clear as day, cutting as clean as Zoro’s swords, or Sanji’s kitchen knives. He was just so beat by all of it. Sanji wants so badly to give Zoro more, to let him have more of him than he already has. He just- he can’t bring himself to do it.
Sanji is straight. That’s how he was raised. To love and respect women, to be at their beck and call within a moment’s notice, and yet.
And yet..
“You know, sometimes you’re so full of shit.” Zoro let out a light chuckle, “You think I’d stay if I didn’t want to? C’mon cook, get real .” He moves slightly to face the cook, his cook , “You’re a challenge, and you think I’d fall for someone who isn’t just that ? You’re strong and kind, and above all the man I trust the most.”
“I love you because you’re you. ” Leaning closer into Sanji, Zoro almost fills all the space between them, “Loving you will never be hard work. Not for me. And that’s a promise.”
Determination is filled within Zoro’s eyes, his posture, his soul. It’s almost as if it is radiating off of him, spilling freely from all of his pores just for Sanji and Sanji alone. The cook can feel the emotion coming from him, and his shoulders rise again to their regular state, having the affirmation from Zoro giving him a newfound sense of reassurance he didn’t know he needed.
The swordsman’s body seems like it’s moving of its own accord, drawn towards Sanji’s face and leaning close, feeling his own breath mixing with the cook’s.
“D-don’t kiss me- I can’t-“
“I know”
And Zoro ends up slumped with his head on Sanji’s shoulder, having the blonde’s arms immediately wrapping around the swordsman in an automatic gesture.
Breakfast can wait a few minutes, this feeling of something like home thrumming through Sanji’s veins being the most conflicting and comforting thing he’s ever had to deal with. He wants so badly to stay here, stay like this , but he knows he has a job, and can think about whatever the connection him and Zoro share later.
—
Sanji, like an idiot, does not think about it , and realises all too late that he cannot live in a world without Zoro.
Thriller Bark had hit him like a freight train, and the sacrifice to Bartolomew Kuma had Sanji in possibly the worst emotional state of his life. As soon as he regained consciousness he could sense that his body felt off despite the injuries, and it was because Zoro wasn’t there. Zoro’s swords were splayed out on the ground, the brilliant ivory of Wado seeming dulled now that she wasn’t on the hip of her proud owner. Sanji couldn’t think clearly, his vision as foggy as his mind, clouded by tears and incoherent thoughts. He has to find Zoro. He has to be alive.
That fucking Marimo bastard. He can’t be dead.
Sanji’s legs were carrying him like his life depended on it. Probably because they did . He had been muttering to himself the whole time, hoping to some kind of God that what he finds isn’t the dead body of the man he cares so much about.
Maybe what he finds is worse.
Blood is all over the surrounding area of Zoro, seeming like there’s more of it on the floor than inside the swordsman’s body. Sanji feels his heart sink below him, below the floor. Fuck, it’s probably on the other side of the Grand Line at this point. Zoro is still standing, maybe conscious, with a downcast gaze and arms crossed like a smug bastard .
Sanji hates him. But at the same time, he loves the idiot. Loves his blind determination, loves how he is gentle with those he cares about, loves how easy it is for the Moss to piss him off and get him into a fight. He loves all of it, and wants all of it.
Of course realising that now, when he doesn’t even know if said Moss is even alive , is fucking ridiculous.
“Oi, where did all this blood come from?! Are you alive?” His words seemed automatic, no filter to hide any emotions of fear, of anger, of sadness that washed over him. “What happened?” The question was meek, and somehow it could still carry the weight of worry coursing through the cook.
A shaky, jarred breath, “Nothing- Nothing happened.”
And with that, Zoro collapsed into Sanji’s arms, feeling terribly cold and barely breathing.
Fuck.
—
Sanji was furious. He was furious, then he was upset, and now he’s downright inconsolable.
Kuma had seemed to follow the Strawhats to Sabaody, and Sanji had to, once again, watch Zoro potentially die right in front of him. All before he could actually talk to the swordsman about whatever the fuck they had going on.
Sanji designated himself to Zoro’s bedside on Thriller Bark, changing bandages for Chopper and cleaning his wounds when the little doctor became too tired to do so. Every time he touched the unconscious man’s skin came with the feeling of home Sanji so often correlated with Zoro. Seeing him so pale, so lifeless , wrapped in discoloured bandages had reality checked the blonde like no other. He really couldn’t see a life without the swordsman, feeling like a part of his very being was almost ripped away from him. Sanji was Zoro, and Zoro was Sanji. They were Zoro and Sanji, the two wings of the future Pirate King, and they were each other’s lifelines without even realising it.
Despite this, he didn’t talk to Zoro when he woke up. Sanji was so mad with him that he couldn’t think of the words to express that what he did was stupid and he could have left him alone forever. And now, he has to experience the same feeling of dread he was feeling just weeks ago.
What the fuck.
Sanji was in a blind rage, seeing nothing but red and this stupid fucking Warlord . Immediately his leg was ignited, going straight for the man’s neck.
He wasn’t left to dwell on his anger for long, with Bartholomew Kuma landing an easy attack on him that had him in the same situation as the swordsman, his swordsman .
—
Being in the Kambakka Kingdom taught Sanji a lot of things. How to balance a meal with nutrients and dietary requirements specific to all of his crewmates, how to fight, how to use Haki. How to have safe se-
Two years he spent with Emporio Ivankov, and those two years had been very educational for him.
It was a bunch of tearful goodbyes and hopeful promises to visit Kambakka again; then he was off to the meeting place they had agreed on. Shakky’s Bar.
There was a small wave of relief and terror walking back into the place again, memories briefly flashing in his mind from his last visit. Not much had changed, Shakky still looked as beautiful as ever, even if his heart was set on a certain marimo, and Rayleigh met him with a wise smile that can only come from years of knowledge.
“That makes seven of you, just your lovely archaeologist and captain left~” Shakky chimed, cigarette placed delicately in between her fingers, “Your swordsman said he wanted to go fishing, so I’m sure he’ll be near the markets. You can do a restock of the ship before you see him.”
Sanji’s heart skipped a beat at the mention of Zoro. All his mind had been thinking about since he left to come back to Sabaody was him. What he would say, how he could make up for the sour separation two years ago. Sanji felt like he well and truly fucked it up, and he really wished he had actually talked to Zoro instead of being a coward and ignoring him.
Then he thought about where the lovely lady had mentioned where the Moss was, and he let out a chuckle “ I better get him before he causes trouble.”
And with that, he went to go and find Zoro.
It wasn’t hard, after about half an hour of getting everything to stock up the Sunny again, he found the swordsman causing trouble near the sea. There was a poor ship sliced in two, and leaping straight off of it and onto solid land again was the green haired idiot.
“Wrong ship, these things keep movin’.” He sheaths Kietsu with ease, and looks up to see the cook.
And it felt like the first time Sanji ever locked eyes with Zoro all over again. Like the ocean waves crashing against the Baratie on a stormy evening, drowning out every other sound in the world, as if nothing existed but them. Except now they were 21, and the blonde was still doubting whether the swordsman even wanted to entertain this weird, soul connection they had.
But fuck , Zoro looked hot. Despite the lack of an eye on his left now. He knew the other man was attractive from the beginning, but now he’s gotten stronger , and his chest has filled out, his silhouette carved into a perfect V shape underneath his robes and haramaki.
Sanji had to stop, because he could feel the telltale tingle in his nose.
“Zoro,” the name fell off his tongue like silk, like it was made to be said by him.
And he could see some tension immediately fall from the other man. Zoro felt the presence of the cook within his body, his entire being, and almost stumbled over his own feet going to greet the other. Sanji had to steady himself as the swordsman threw his entire weight onto him in an almost bone crushing hug.
“Curly, fuck, I missed you .” Zoro’s head immediately nuzzled into the blonde’s neck, the feeling of lithe arms wrapping around him.
Sanji could feel the tears welling in his eyes, the overwhelming feeling of home crashing into him like tidal waves, “Zoro, I’m so sorry, I’m sorry for Thriller Bark. I didn’t- I-“
“Shut up, let me hug you. We can talk it out later.”
“I need to tell you something though.” And he had anxiety filling up his chest thinking about what to say, how to word it. He had to get this one right.
Sanji had fucked up so much, and he just wanted to make this right. He kept Zoro waiting too long for this, he’d been so far up his own ass with his issues that he’d kept this absolute brute of a man waiting.
Not anymore.
Zoro leaned back a little, still keeping a tight hold on Sanji, like a stray cat that would run away at any moment.
“Shoot.” The word was short and to the point, and was all the encouragement Sanji needed.
“I- This, thing, that we have. I want it. I want all of it. All of you, Marimo.” Being eye to eye with Zoro made the words easier than he had originally thought, “I realised it the first time Kuma showed up and I was just too much of a coward to tell you.”
He gave the swordsman a smile; it was a small soft thing. He hoped that Zoro would still want the same things he did two years ago.
It was as if Sanji could feel Zoro’s own emotions as much as he could see them. His eyes softened, his brow losing the furrow they constantly sported, and his mouth broke out into a huge, unapologetic grin. He was elated . The swordsman was happy just seeing the cook after so much time apart, let alone Sanji telling him the words he thought he’d never hear.
“You’re serious?” Zoro loosened his grip he had on the other, bringing a calloused hand to his face, rubbing a thumb across a slender cheekbone.
Sanji leaned into it easily, preening at the contact, “Dead serious. Now, can I kiss you?”
“Don’t need to tell me twice.”
And if Sanji thought just contact with Zoro felt like home , then the kiss felt even better. It truly felt like there was nobody else but Zoro and Sanji in the world, everything else became drowned out at the sheer intensity of it all. It felt like everything they needed, like a completed whole. It was like sparks and fireworks and the crashing of the ocean all at once, and Sanji couldn’t get enough of it.
Their lips moved in tandem, and if Zoro slipped his tongue into Sanji’s mouth at some point, it was just between them.
They only stopped when the need for air was too much, looking into each other’s eyes with years old, yet also newfound love. Their souls were intertwined, simply existing together in such a comforting familiarity that only they knew.
“Alright Marimo, now I need to finish getting stocks for the ship and you’re going to be my pack mule.” Sanji once again smiled at Zoro, this time with a cheeky lilt to it that only the swordsman could catch on to.
“But I wanna go fishing.” Zoro whined, finally letting go of the cook to slip their hands together.
“I’ll give you a reward later if you come with me~” The blonde’s eyes fell down towards the swordsman’s chest, his neck, his lips, and then he smirked. Cocky bastard.
Shivers went up Zoro’s spine like a harsh winter breeze.
“Mhm. Okay. Yep. No problem.”