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In classic Zoro fashion, it was already nightfall when he had awakened from his nap. From the absence of Luffy’s noise, Zoro concluded either everyone had been killed or captured by marines, or they had already gone off exploring another new island. Since he was still alive and kicking, it was probably the latter.
Might as well go look for some booze. He thought.
With his swords at the ready, he thus sprung onto the unfamiliar piece of land - beginning his adventure for alcohol. From the corner of his sharp eye, Zoro caught sight of a faint light that dimly lit the cobblestoned-path down the street from where he stood, and felt confident that he would find a place in no time as long as he followed the light source as a point of reference. While there wasn’t much hubbub round the place, it was by no means a ghost town. Zoro didn’t mean to pry, but he could effortlessly peer into houses and find children erupting into laughter, their mothers gazing upon them adoringly. As he continued making his way down the road, the distant sounds of people chattering away loudly and glasses clinking against each other started to get clearer.
Zoro made a turn and there it was… the Going Merry?!
Zoro had probably seen the ship for another six times (he’d soon lost count) before he finally came across a saloon bar of sorts. He pushed open the doors and immediately felt a slight uneasiness creeping onto him, settling at the pit of his stomach.
But no matter, he wasn’t going to let anything stop him from getting his long-awaited drink.
“What can we get for you today, handsome?” The bartender winked at Zoro flirtatiously as he took a seat at the counter.
Ah, did I accidentally stumble into a gay bar again?
“Your strongest bottle will do,” Zoro replied, cold-faced as ever, while stealing a few glances from the bar. Sure enough, the patrons were only men and some were even intimate with each other. Not that Zoro minded though, he just found it mildly amusing that despite his indifference towards his own homosexuality, this happened to him not once, but twice, accidentally.
“Why yes, of course. Coming right up, sir,” The bartender smirked at him before shifting suspiciously to the back of the bar. Nothing seemed to be amiss, but Zoro felt his body tensing up, his hands clutching for his swords as he grew increasingly aware of his surroundings; he could feel the entire bar had their eyes on him, like a thousand arrows piercing through a single target.
Not long after, the bartender had returned, sliding Zoro his drink which he chugged down instantly.
“Say, you wouldn’t happen to be the demon pirate hunter Zoro… would you?” The bartender asked cheekily while pouring another one out for Zoro.
Zoro paused for a moment after downing the second glass, “It depends on who’s asking.”
“Oh, I'm nobody, y’see,” a crooked grin forming on his face, “but I do have a few, let’s say… benefactors who would love to meet you.”
Zoro’s intuition was right — almost everyone at the bar stood up one by one, brandishing their weapons; snickering and cackling away as if a prey had just fallen into their trap. Back still turned against them, “Who are you and what do you want?”
“Easy, pretty boy,” a voice from whom Zoro could only assume to be the leader of the pack said as he slowly began inching towards him, “Behave and follow us, and we will not harm you,” he threatened, now leaning even closer towards Zoro’s face. “Would be a shame to ruin this perfect, annoying face of yours.”
“Alright, I’m done talking.” Zoro got up from his seat and turned around. He could count almost a dozen men in the room who were eager to take his life and for some reason, Zoro seemed to recognise their faces…
The leader backed off, “Get him, boys.” He sneered. Zoro couldn’t help but be distracted by the man’s charm; he was tall, blond, a lit cigarette in his mouth…
Wait-
Some three men rushed headlong into him and he quickly made work of them and suddenly, Zoro felt a slight tingle in his knees, his ears ringing and his vision blurry. Zoro tried to regain his footing, but to little avail.
“W-what did you put in the drink…” Even his speech was starting to slur and he could feel his consciousness fading in and out with every passing second. Few more closed in on Zoro and managed to land a few blows, pushing him to the side making him crash into one of the tables.
The men were sloppy and reckless with their attacks - almost reminding him of his younger days. As much as he hated to admit it, the wounds inflicted by Mihawk and the fatigue after the battle at Arlong Park had started to catch up to him. Along with the fact that he just drank two glasses of poison, he didn’t see a way out of this. His hearing had now gotten muffled, and he was unable to find the strength to get back on his feet.
“Y-you… from back then…”
“Finally remember us?”
That’s it. It was that same bar. The sign was at the entrance when I walked in, how did I not notice? Funky Bar. From Mirr-
“Mirror Ball Island.” The blond finished Zoro’s thoughts. “You made an embarrassment out of us back then. And we have been plotting for revenge ever since.” He paused, pacing around the bar, cackling.
“But who would’ve known? That you would walk right into our arms instead.” He knelt down, grabbing the head of a now face-planted Zoro and pushed his knife against Zoro’s bare neck as he whispered sinisterly, “Now you shall pay, Roronoa Zoro.”
All of a sudden, a loud noise came barging into the bar, “What the hell’s going on?!” Using every last ounce of his energy, he turned to look at the owner of the voice whom he could only make out to be some dark figure with bright hair.
“Zoro? Is that you? What are you doing here?”
Fuck. Zoro could recognise that god-forsaken voice no matter what, one that belonged to none other than that smug-faced crewmate of his.
“San-“
Thud.
~
Zoro jolted awake, a stifled gasp escaping his mouth involuntarily as he tried to find his bearings.
“Relax, we’re on the ship.” That same voice from earlier called out to him.
“W-what happened?” He stammered, wincing and groaning. His head, now throbbing with a migraine.
“I saw you getting your arse beat by a bunch of nobodies and saved you. Not before you passed out though so you kinda missed the entire thing.” Sanji replied, while whipping up some form of concoction.
“Thanks.”
Sanji stopped momentarily, “Wow. Very unlike you.”
Weirdly enough, Zoro didn’t feel like bickering with the dimwit cook at the moment. Maybe it was because of exhaustion, or the humiliation - though he had never let anything stop him from snarking back at Sanji before.
Moments later, Sanji sauntered across the room and handed Zoro a drink, “Just so we’re on the same page, I saved your arse this time right?”
Zoro rolled his eyes, unable to resist taking a jab back at Sanji, “This better not have poison in it like the one I had just now.”
“Oh and I was just starting to miss the old you. So much more likeable! Especially when you’re in a passed-out, non-verbal state,” Sanji snapped back, before the two of them shared a chuckle.
Zoro took a sip of the beverage - it was the perfect blend of sweet and sour, and he felt just a little better already. He’d almost felt obliged to give it a compliment, but stopped himself lest it get the best of him. “How’d you find me though?” He asked, eyes darting across the room, perhaps still feeling a little ashamed about the incident.
“I was across the street looking for some fresh ingredients when I heard some big hoo-ha outside. So naturally I went to check and voilà, there you were.” Sanji recited. “I’d start counting my blessings if I were you, mosshead. You were lucky I got there in time.”
Zoro felt a lump forming in his throat, he could feel his face heating up and his palms starting to get sweaty.
What is this feeling? Did he actually poison the drink?
Casting his doubts aside, Zoro finally spoke up again, “You’re not curious?”
“About what?” Sanji replied nonchalantly, lighting up yet another cigarette.
“That I was in a gay bar.”
“Oh.” Sanji took a puff before continuing, “Well. I don’t really care. Love who you love.”
For the first time, his judgement was clouded with thoughts and emotions that he didn’t even know existed, he was tongue-tied. Silence once again encroached on them, and all Zoro could hear were waves gently crashing against their ship and Sanji’s occasional fidgeting with his lighter, forming into some sort of melody that reverberated alongside his pulsating heartbeat.
He sat there unmoving, eyes glued onto Sanji; mesmerised by the moonlight that softly caressed against his skin, his face that glowed from the singular oil lamp which illuminated his prominent features. It was to the point that Zoro even felt irritated; how unfair it was for the pesky cook to be so good-looking.
A voice interrupted his train of thoughts, “What? You in love with me or something? I must say, with a face like this I’m bound to captivate both the ladies and the men.” Sanji teased.
For the first time, he had finally taken a proper look at Sanji, and couldn’t help but admire his beauty. Sanji’s silly little comment now plaguing his mind and he started to question himself, Am I?
Zoro could feel his face flaring up once more, but he wasn’t going to back down this time. Oh no. “Not until they find out about your personality. I’m the only one who can put up with that, dumbass cook.”
Sanji was caught off-guard. Suddenly, he could notice the difference in Zoro’s usual tone - the bickering now less facetious in nature but rather coy, playful. Has Zoro been flirting with him this whole time? He wondered, getting increasingly flustered as he couldn’t help but feel Zoro taking pleasure in his current abashed state.
“Oh yeah? And how’s that?” Sanji didn’t know it yet, but he would soon find out how he had just unlocked Pandora’s box.
“Come closer and I just might tell you,” Zoro gestured, who was still sitting on his hammock bed, mere inches away from where Sanji was currently standing. Any other day, Sanji wouldn’t have entertained Zoro’s theatrics at all. But today wasn’t any other day.
Sanji sighed as he walked towards Zoro. Once again, Zoro found himself so enamoured by the man that stood before him that he probably wasn’t thinking straight anymore. So annoyingly handsome.
He waved his downwards, signalling Sanji to kneel down - he let out another sigh, “Now what?”
Their eyes locked and for a moment there it seemed like the world had come to a standstill. Their breaths hastened and both of them looked away in unison before turning back their heads reluctantly, making eye contact once more.
They drew each other closer and closer, eagerly waiting for the other to make the first move. As their lips finally brushed together for the first time, the aroma of tobacco had taken over Zoro’s sense, as if ignited by Sanji. Sanji’s lips were like the ocean, ebbing carefully and flowing back mercilessly - like a metronome that played to their synced heartbeats. Zoro wanted to fight back, but Sanji’s unrelenting kisses left no room for a counterattack and so he pulled back. Sanji was confused and for a second there he thought he had messed up, and made an expression on his face that provoked Zoro wanting for more.
He stood up and pressed Sanji against one of the ship’s pillars, a subtle moan barely escaping Sanji. Sanji’s astonishment gave Zoro the opportunity he needed to retaliate as he slid his tongue into Sanji’s slightly-parted lips; his hands briefly caressed Sanji’s hair then cupped his cheeks. Eyes half-closed, they looked at each other as if two lost and wandering souls that had finally found each other across millennia of searching. As the tempo had begun to slow down, Sanji threw his arms around Zoro — his hands grazing against his neck. In that moment — Zoro suddenly realised that they both had calloused palms, him from his swords and Sanji from his kitchen knives, to which made him giggle.
“Why? What’s so funny?” Sanji retreated.
“Nothing.”
“Way to ruin the mood then.”
“Well, are you satisfied with your answer?” Zoro smirked.
“Oh, shut up.”
“Can we continue?”
And so they did. This time, it was Sanji that pulled Zoro in and on the offensive. Zoro was appeased, he could not believe how enthralled he was with Sanji and he was grateful that mind-reading was not one of Sanji’s expertise. If Sanji was aware of his thoughts, he would be making fun of him for a lifetime.
As they embraced each other under the peaceful night sky, Zoro was hit with an epiphany.
I think I found my answer too.