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Everything around was torn to pieces, rubble everywhere, and in the center of it all was Sanji, lying unconscious. Nami, Luffy, Chopper and Zoro quickly ran up to him, Chopper was the first one to fuss about Sanji's state when suddenly Nami gasped.
"What is it?!" Chopper yells out, concerned that he had missed something on Sanji.
Nami tears up before speaking, "His- his eyebrows," she sniffles, "They’re not right, they're flipped," streams of tears began running down Nami's face while the rest of them looked at eachother.
Surprisingly, it clicks for Luffy. His face turns dark as he lowers his hat, "Like his brothers".
With that, everyone understood what it meant. They murmur amongst each other and try to wake Sanji up, but Zoro turns his back, "Maybe... it's better if we don't," they seem shocked at Zoro's suggestion, especially Nami.
"How could you say that?! Don't you want to save Sanji kun?" Nami cussed out.
"That's what the cook would've wanted," He crosses his arms.
"He's not dead yet, we can save him!" Chopper yells between cries.
"He told me he didn't want to be saved and I don't plan on going against my word," He begins to walk away but a hand holds his wrist tightly. It was Nami's, she's collapsed on the floor.
"What word?," She grits her teeth so she doesn't yell at Zoro.
"He made me promise that I would kill him if he lost his mind after this battle, I guess that's what he meant by losing his mind," Zoro wants to desperately walk away. He's not one to break promises and he knows this one would cause conflict among his crewmates.
Nami completely loses it, "How could you be so heartless?!" She yells out, saliva and tears splashing from her face as she punches the ground.
Zoro's blood boils. How dare she say that? He's the only one who seems to be respecting the cook's wishes around here. Just because it's a difficult choice to make doesn't mean he doesn't care about the shit-cook. Nami out of all people should know just how much he cares about the cook, after he confided in her about his feelings she has the nerve to question him? He loves the stupid fucking cook so much that he's willing to kill him just to fullfill a promise to him.
Zoro turns around to face her, "I never break promises, you should know that by now," that’s all he has to say for Nami to realize she went too far.
"Zoro-" before Nami can reach out to him again, Luffy stops her, "Zoro's right, we have to respect Sanji's wishes," Zoro hums in agreement.
"I'm sorry," Nami weakly lets out, Zoro nods and walks away.
He doesn't know where exactly to go, but he knows he can't be around for this any longer. Secretly, he would be thankful if Sanji went out like that, fighting bravely, instead of having to kill him. However, if Sanji regains consciousness, he trusts him to have enough resolve to go through with it. And he will, for him.
Back at the fight scene, Chopper wonders if he should keep treating Sanji after all of those things were said. He eventually got his answer.
"Chopper, stop. Let him go," orders the captain. Chopper looks up at him with big watery eyes.
"So are we just going to leave him like this?".
There's a heavy silence hanging around them. They want to respect Sanji's wishes but they don't want to leave him to die like this.
Suddenly, Nami breaks the silence, "We-" she struggles to get the words out, "We should take him to the beach," Luffy and Chopper nod in agreement. Chopper turns into human form and rests Sanji's unconscious body over his shoulder. To the beach it is.
Meanwhile Zoro's wandering around Wano's forest without a clue of where he is or where to go. Eventually he decides to stop walking about and sits down leaning against a tree.
"Stupid cook, with your stupid eyebrows," He curses to thin air as he bashes his head into the tree.
He sighs and decides he should meditate for a while, get his mind off of thinking about his predicament. After a few minutes of trying, it seems futile, he can't stop thinking about the stupid cook, laying there unconscious, with his stupid eyebrows flipped. What is that anyway? Losing his mind? Does he lose his memory? his empathy? Zoro can't seem to decide which is worse. It would most definitely hurt if the cook didn't remember him, but they could make new memories. On the other hand, the cook losing his empathy? Zoro decides that might hurt even more, not because he would treat him like shit, he kind of already does, but because that's what makes the cook, The Cook you know? He wouldn't be the man he fell in love with.
Zoro sighs heavily once again, he should make his way back. He stands up and starts to wander once again, somehow, he ends up on the beach. He supposes that if he walks around the beach he will eventually find the Sunny and he could sleep there for the night. Only after a few minutes he spots someone laying on the sand, as he approaches the unknown figure he realizes it seems familiar. His eyes grow wide once he's near it, it's the cook. Zoro crouches next to him. His hair seems to be resting peacefully over his face, his facial hair contours his features perfectly. Zoro thinks he looks angelic, until he gets to his eyebrows, he scowls at how wrong it looks. He gets closer and lifts Sanji's bangs, looking at both eyebrows at the same time feels like he's violating some kind of unspoken rule. Zoro doesn’t understand how some eyebrows could hold so much significance. Suddenly, Zoro gets hit with the realization that he could be fawning over a potential dead body. He quickly lets go of the hair and goes to stand up.
Suddenly, Sanji's hand starts to shake and a groan leaves his mouth. Zoro's eyes widen and he backs away. Oh God please no, please no, please don't be alive , Zoro thinks desperately. In a lapse of judgment, he decides to, for the first time ever, to break a promise.
He approaches Sanji and helps him get up, "Cook? Are you okay?".
Sanji groans again, "What do you think?" He croaks.
Zoro can't lie and say he isn't a bit relieved that the cook's cheekiness remains untouched. He scoffs.
Sanji looks at him, flipped eyebrows furrowed, "What are you laughing about?" The shine in his ocean blue eyes seems to be gone. Zoro gulps, he doesn't know how to respond.
Sanji coughs blood into his hand but doesn't seem affected by it, so he keeps the conversation going, "What? Cat got your tongue?" He asks teasingly. Zoro would normally enjoy this kind of banter between them but he knows that something’s off, it feels hollow. He had already thrown the idea of killing Sanji out the window, but what now? Would the cook still be part of their crew if he was like this? Zoro didn't know what this was yet, he should figure that out probably.
"Tell me something about yourself," Zoro asked, looking at the sea. He didn't want to look at Sanji's newly dulled eyes. He had to figure out what this new Sanji was about.
"Why would I do that?" Sanji spat coldly.
Okay then, definitely no empathy. What about memory?
"Can you tell me what happened in Thriller Bark?" Zoro knew this was a deep cut but he had to test this out.
"Yes," Sanji replied with no apparent reaction to a previously sensitive memory, "You took Luffy's pain, which I also tried to do but you stopped me before I could. Doesn't seem like a logical decision on my part looking back at it," Sanji shrugged like he hadn't dropped a painful memory for the both of them.
Zoro fumed at the delivery of that sentence. He knew exactly what to do next. He stood up and scooped Sanji like a bride and started walking to find the Sunny with Sanji in his arms.
"What the hell do you think you're doing?!" Sanji protested.
"You're in no condition to walk or move around much so I'm taking advantage," He said with resolve on his face.
Sanji's memory isn't affected so he remembers what he made Zoro promise, "If you try to kill me I will fight and I won’t hold back in the slightest, you know that".
"I'm not going to kill you".
For the first time since waking up, Sanji seemed to show something else other than anger or indifference. He was surprised at Zoro's statement, he never breaks a promise. Why would he do it now? He didn't understand, of course he didn't.
"But you promised," It sounded softer to Zoro's ears but he didn’t want to be fooled by Sanji's slight change in demeanor.
"Well, what do you care about anyway?" Zoro said with venom in his throat. He couldn't stand this Sanji, even when he seemed harmless.
They finally arrived at the Sunny, at this point Sanji was no longer protesting. Zoro went straight to the infirmary and laid Sanji down on the cot.
"So what’s your plan huh?" Sanji was genuinely curious, this went against everything he knew about the swordsman. Just because his empathy went away doesn't mean he wants to be left in the dark.
"I'm going to get you back, cook," Zoro smirked as he pulled up a chair to sit next to the cot.
"The Sanji you know , because I'm still Sanji after all. Maybe better because now I don't have to go around pretending I care about other people".
Zoro's stomach turned into knots, the old cook would never say that. And that's why he had to get his cook back.
"You don't mean that," Zoro side-eyed Sanji, hoping he would snap out of it eventually.
"Oh no, I do," He smirked. Just like the other Sanji, this one loved to watch the swordsman squirm.
Zoro scowled. He got up and slammed the door as he left. He could hear Sanji's laugh through the door, but it seemed wrong, he sounded like a demon who enjoyed torture, ugh all of this is wrong. Zoro groaned in frustration as he paced the hallway. What could get the cook to snap out of it? Maybe something to do with ladies? or with cooking? He exhaled deeply to center himself and entered the infirmary again.
"Alright, love-cook, let's give this a go," Zoro said as he sat down on the chair.
"Try. Me." Sanji taunted.
"Let me tell you about the time I found Nami and Vivi kissing," He paused to see if Sanji reacted in any way, Sanji's interest seemed piqued.
"My lack of empathy doesn't prevent me from being attracted to ladies," At least he was self aware, Zoro thought. He decides to ignore the comment and keep telling his story.
"Well I was taking a nap on the deck since I was supposed to be on watch-"
"-Of course you would," Sanji interrupted.
Zoro glared at him, "Shut up. Anyways, suddenly I woke up to the sound of something falling. I go to investigate and lo and behold, Nami and Vivi are kissing in the girls quarters with the door wide open. I don't think they saw me out on the deck. Of course I don't want to interrupt so I go back to napping," Zoro retells.
"Is that it? That's supposed to make me feel things?" Sanji asks, annoyed at Zoro for wasting his time on some dumb story.
"Well, that's not the end because later that day Nami approaches me with her typical death stare and says ' If you tell anyone what you saw I will kill you, you got that? ' So apparently she did see me. Suddenly I was roped into a conversation about crushes and coming out or whatever, it was weird seeing the witch so vulnerable about personal stuff, it brought me back to Arlong Park," Zoro reminisces, of course he excludes the part where he opened up to Nami about his own feelings for the cook which didn't seem to shock Nami at all. Snapping back to reality, Zoro notices that it's the first Sanji hasn't scolded him for calling Nami a witch, he frowns at the thought.
"So Nami's a lesbian or something like that?" Sanji questions, without an ounce of jealousy in his voice. It grates Zoro's ears to not hear Sanji use his stupid nickname for Nami.
"It’s not my secret to tell," Zoro shrugs, he wasn’t trying to out his friend.
"Well that's a hypocritical thing to say, you already told me a secret of hers that she explicitly told you not to tell," Zoro grimaced at the fault in his own logic. He would like to think Nami would allow it for the sake of bringing back the cook, at least that’s what he thinks to justify himself. He's really losing it now, he needs alcohol as soon as possible.
"Ugh, I need booze," He stands up and leaves again. He stands by the door for a moment, waiting for Sanji to scold him about stealing from his kitchen. Nothing comes out of the cook's mouth and lays there, still uncaring. Zoro tsked and left for the kitchen where he gathered quite a few bottles of sake, he looked around and tried to think about what he could say to wake up Sanji. Zoro thought back to when they met the cook at the Baratie, his memory of that time is a bit hazy after Mihawk almost sliced him in half. But he does remember being impressed by the cook's fighting skills, not that he would have admitted it. He also remembers Luffy telling him about the cook feeding a starving pirate, that kindness is what makes Sanji who he is. Finally, his train of thought ends in Redleg Zeff.
He goes back to the infirmary with renewed resolve. Zoro opens the first bottle of sake and takes a big gulp as he sits down.
"Round two, love cook," Zoro smirked in confidence.
Sanji weakly sat up, holding himself up by his forearms, "Bring it on, swordsman ," He snarled, Sanji was getting tired of Zoro spewing bullshit. The point of egging him on was for him to realize there was nothing he could say or do for him to go back to his old self, this was exactly why the old Sanji asked him to kill him.
Zoro took another chug before speaking, "What would old man Zeff think of you like this?" Sanji's eyes widen for just a millisecond, but Zoro notices and he smiles at the reaction.
"Why should I care what he thinks of me? He may have taken care of me, but he means nothing to me. Especially now that we’re thousands of miles away," Sanji side-eyes Zoro, what a stupid question he thinks. However, in a corner of his mind he doesn’t notice, his feelings are gnawing to get out.
"Because he’s your father, well at least something like that. Do you think he would be proud to see you like this?" Zoro presses on.
"Why do you care?!" Sanji yells defensively, his pupils shaking.
Zoro simply smiles, "That sounds more like you".
Sanji scowls, "Why can't you understand?... There's nothing you could say to change me back. I'm better off now," He looks away. He has no interest in staying with the strawhats, yes they were a strong crew but now he could fend off for himself. To do what? He didn't exactly know, going back to Germa wasn't really an option at this point.
Zoro fumes, "Stop saying bullshit," His eyes darkened as he finished the first bottle of sake and opened a second one.
"I'm not going to lose a crewmate without fighting for them first," He gives the chair a death grip. Zoro omits his own more personal reasons for wanting Sanji back. He won't resort to revealing his true feelings, it would feel pathetic to do so in this particular situation. It also wasn't fair to Sanji, to give him this information when he couldn't react properly to his feelings.
"Roronoa Zoro, always the honorable one," Sanji laughs, "One would think you could keep one simple promise, but here we are," He shrugs.
Zoro's eyes widen. Sanji's words were like knives stabbing through his heart. He knew exactly what to say to make Zoro break. Honor and loyalty have always been Zoro's best qualities, he takes pride in his ability to fulfill promises. But this... This is different, he has never felt this way about someone. Sure, there was Kuina, Luffy, an the rest of the crew who he feels a strong sense of fraternity with. Sanji is that but even more, he's his crewmate, his fighting partner, his rival, but above all, his first love. The stupid fucking cook has no idea just how far he's willing to go to get him back, there was no way he was losing the only person he has ever loved when there was a chance to get him back. He was lost in thought so he didn't realize he had chugged the whole bottle of sake. Let's go for a third one, he has the first sip.
"You sure know how to cut deep, cook," Sanji just shrugs at the comment. Zoro keeps drinking and he doesn't intend to stop until he feels like talking again.
The air in the infirmary turned heavy. For some reason, they started a staring contest. Zoro was trying to figure out Sanji's intentions. Sanji was just there, staring and waiting for Zoro's next attempt at changing him back. After all, he had nothing better to do. Zoro's heart tugged, the brightness that always flooded Sanji's eyes wasn't there anymore. The ocean that previously adorned Sanji's face was now reduced to a muddy puddle. He decided he hated it.
"I can't stand looking at you," Zoro finally said, matter of factly.
"Then don't," Sanji matched his energy.
Zoro stood up and went to sit at Chopper's desk with the rest of bottles of sake, he would drink until he forgot what Sanji's eyes used to look, which was highly unlikely. Zoro thought that Sanji's eyes didn't even compare to the most beautiful ocean and he wondered if Sanji's eyes matched the All Blue. He shook his head trying to head straight and kept drinking. Zoro knew their doctor wouldn't appreciate this particular use of his desk. He was taken out of his thoughts by Sanji's voice.
"So... Are you giving up, swordsman?" Zoro didn't want to confuse mere curiosity with hope.
"Not like you care anyway. Just trying to numb the pain, the usual," Zoro didn't turn around to face the cook as he spoke.
This caught Sanji's attention, he cocked his head. He knew Zoro had an alcohol problem but he never considered the swordsman had a reason for it, he just guessed it was a pirate thing.
"The usual?" He inquired. This seemed to make the swordsman fume with anger.
At this point he had already drunk well over 5 bottles of sake, inhibitions were completely out the window. Zoro stood up violently and stomped over to the cot to face Sanji.
“You don’t know the half of it, fucking cook,” Zoro spat while driving his index finger into Sanji’s chest. He flinched at the touch, his wounds still tender.
“You don’t think I don’t know pain, fucking swordsman?!” He spat back. Their foreheads were touching, the argument was just getting started.
In the heat of the moment, Zoro forgot that Sanji’s lack of empathy didn’t cancel out all of his trauma. He didn’t know much about it, only what he heard from the crew and what Sanji was willing to talk about. He calmed down before speaking again.
“Well then, tell me,” He sat again and crossed his arms. Sanji’s eyes widened, never in a million years he thought he would see Zoro asking such deep personal information. Not that he would share it with him anyways. He was left speechless.
“What?” Zoro smirked, “Cat got your tongue?”.
Sanji finally snapped, “Would you fucking stop it?! Stop trying to get me back! I’m not fucking worth it! You should have left me for dead on the beach!” He yelled, leaving himself breathless.
This time, Zoro was the one left speechless. He knew a little something about the cook’s self worth issues but he never expected to see them rise to the surface like this. To Zoro, this was the most ridiculous thing he had ever heard. The Vinsmokes fucked Sanji up so bad that he couldn’t see how amazing he was.
“Cook-” Zoro managed to get out.
“-I don’t want your fucking pity! So… just stop it already,” Sanji said, defeated.
Zoro was never good with words, actions were more his thing. Usually, over time his actions would reveal how he felt about people but for some reason in this situation he felt like he was running against the clock. What if he had a time limit before it was too late for the cook? On the other hand, what could he even say to Sanji? There’s no words that even begin to describe how he feels about Sanji and how great the cook is. Even if he found the words, Zoro thinks that Sanji wouldn’t even believe them at this point. Maybe simplicity was the answer, that always seems to work for Luffy.
“I don’t pity you,” He started, “Quite the opposite actually, why would I pity someone I regard as my equal? Luffy needs us both to become king of the pirates,” I need you , he wants to say.
Sanji looks up, there’s a tiny hint of shimmer in his eyes. Zoro smiles, there’s still hope in there. With that, the hint disappears, “There’s no more reason for me to want Luffy to become king of the pirates. He can do it without me,” He looks down again.
Zoro frowns, “I think the only person here feeling sorry for you is yourself,” Sanji opens his mouth to retort but closes it back up.
“Look cook,” Zoro begins again, frustrated out of his mind as he tries to find the right words, “I think… I think that you’re great. You’re the- Your food is the best I’ve ever eaten in my life, not that I’ve tried a lot of food from other people,” He rambles, stumbling over his words.
“What the fuck are you talking about?” Sanji asks, genuinely confused. Zoro sighs in frustration, saying what he thinks shouldn’t be this hard. He chugs more sake before speaking.
“Ugh, you know I’m bad with words. Look, I- I think you’re amazing, extraordinary even. I mean you can literally walk in the sky, what’s cooler than that? I also admire your resilience. Despite all the things you’ve been through, which I can’t even begin to understand, you’re still standing. I’m not one to ask for things but please come back, we need you, all of you, crappy feelings and all. If you don’t believe me, ask Nami, you’ll believe anything she tells you, right?,” Zoro feels the burden a little lighter after that. He goes to drink and when his hand brushes against his face he feels it wet, he wipes the single tear with his other hand like nothing had happened.
Sanji is in shock, he can’t believe what he’s hearing or what he's seeing. He can count on one hand the times he's seen Zoro shed a tear. This time he actually notices his feelings wanting to escape from the cage they’ve been put in.
“I- I can’t. Having those kinds of feelings… is too painful,” He confesses, “But… I don’t think the old me would have wanted to live like this either,” His inner turmoil is starting to get to him, tears roll off his face. The last thing Zoro wants to do is hurt Sanji, somehow he has to show him that there’s a bright side to feeling for others.
Zoro sighed in defeat, “This is my last resort so you better come back, shit cook,” Sanji looks up, “You… Fuck- You mean… everything to me,” Zoro is digging his nails into his hands.
Sanji opens his mouth, “Zoro-” But Zoro stops him, “Let me get this off my chest… I can’t even tell you when I started feeling this way because even I don’t know, one day I was thinking about you and it hit me like a ton of bricks. I’ve never felt like this about anyone. Everytime we fight, everytime I eat your food, even when you fawn over the girls, my heart tugs. I know this is probably something you don’t want to hear and you can hate me all you want but I just want you back… I love you… Sanji ,” Zoro holds his breath, he can’t believe he just said that.
A wave of emotions the size of the Aqua Laguna hits Sanji, he shakes and cries as he’s overcome with feelings. He looks up at Zoro, his vision blurry with tears.
Zoro can’t help the tears that leave his eyes when he sees Sanji’s eyebrows like they’re supposed to be. He looks into the eyes of the cook and thinks that this is the prettiest they’ve ever looked. He’s lost in that ocean, so he doesn’t notice Sanji calling his name.
“-Zoro,” He finally hears as he’s snapped back into reality by Sanji holding his arms and shaking him, “I’m back!” He announces as tears flood his smile. Instead of answering, Zoro jumps to hug him.
“You’re crushing me,” Sanji barely manages to say.
Zoro apologizes and lets go. He holds Sanji by his arms, “Never, and I mean never, do that again,” He wipes his tears and looks away. Sanji smiles and laughs.
“You know, it’s weird,” Sanji begins, “I don’t think I’ve ever heard you say my name,” he says pensively.
Zoro looks back at him and frowns, “That’s what you got from all of that?” At this point, Zoro has zero expectations about the response to his confession. He’s just glad to have Sanji back.
Sanji laughs and wipes his tears for the umpteenth time. He thinks for a bit and lays down with resolve on his face, “You know what, Marimo?” He puts his arms behind his head and closes his eyes, “I think I love you too,” He smiles.
Zoro is speechless, his eyes widened in shock. This was the last thing he expected to hear. He remembers his countless talks with Nami where she always said that Sanji might feel the same but just was in denial. Zoro never believed her and he didn’t want to get his hopes up only for them to be crushed . However, with how he said it, Zoro suspects that Sanji didn’t even realize he had these feelings until now.
He had to confirm this wasn’t a dream or an hallucination from exhaustion, “You do?” Sanji laughs once again, Zoro decides that’s his favorite sound in the world.
“I thought about it, and I do. You know, I didn’t realize it but I’m always thinking about you, besides the ladies of course,” Zoro rolls his eyes, “When you’re not near me, it feels wrong. When we fight I feel so happy, not because I’m fighting with you but because we’re together. So yeah, I love you too,” Sanji said it so matter of factly like it was an obvious conclusion. Zoro was amazed at how Sanji said those words with such ease. He always imagined that a confession from him would leave an angry and confused Sanji, but here he was, looking like the calmest man in the world. Zoro couldn’t help but smile.
“Dumbass,” was all Zoro could muster, he thinks he used up all his good words earlier. Sanji laughed and couldn’t stop laughing, he was elated.
“Marimo,” He smiled, “A brute like always”.
Zoro pushed his arm playfully, “Well, you love this brute,” He smirked as he teased the cook.
Sanji sat up and looked into Zoro’s eyes, “Unfortunately I do,” He also smirked. Zoro didn’t remember the last time he had felt this happy and he was overcome with an urge to kiss Sanji.
“Cook… Can I kiss you?” He asked as he cupped Sanji’s face.
“Only if you say my name,” Sanji smiled playfully. It may seem like he was teasing but in reality he yearned to hear his name from Zoro’s mouth again, it did things to his mind and body that he couldn’t even begin to understand yet.
“ Sanji .. Can I kiss you?” He corrected, putting emphasis on the name. Zoro loved the sound but he didn’t want to wear it out, it was special.
“Yes,” Sanji said, already leaning into the kiss and resting his hand on the nape of Zoro’s neck.
Their lips touched in a tender fashion. Despite Sanji’s injured state, his lips remained soft and smooth and Zoro loved the feeling. They took it slow and romantic, Sanji was pleasantly surprised at Zoro’s tenderness so he decided to take the next step by opening his mouth. Zoro didn’t hesitate to accept the invitation to deepen the kiss, his hand moved to Sanji’s hair which remained soft despite the fight. Sanji tasted like tobacco and blood which he loved, well it doesn’t matter what Sanji tastes like because Zoro would love it regardless. This was the first time Sanji kissed a boy, he loves kissing but this felt different, good different. Zoro tasted like steel, of course he would , he thought as he smiled into the kiss. They separate to regain their breath.
They look into each other’s eyes. Zoro has no idea what to say, he just knows how fortunate he feels to have Sanji in his life. Suddenly, Sanji traps him in a tight hug.
“Thank you,” Sanji whispers into Zoro’s ear. Nothing more needs to be said for Zoro to understand what Sanji means to say thank you for. They stay like that for a while and Zoro decides that he never wants to see Sanji suffer like this.
He slips out of the hug gently and Sanji looks like a lost puppy, Zoro smiles. He grabs one of his earrings and removes it.
“What are-”
“This is a reminder,” Zoro cuts him off as he grabs Sanji’s hand and places the earring on the palm of his hand, “As long as I live you will have someone who loves you and who will fight for you no matter what,” They both blush furiously. Sanji takes the earring from his hand and puts it in his earlobe, Zoro can’t hide his surprise. He doesn’t know how he failed to notice that Sanji has his ear pierced.
Without thinking, he asks, “How?” Sanji’s blush deepens.
“It’s a long story,” he says, embarrassed to recount his time at Kamabakka.
Zoro realizes just how little he knows about Sanji’s actual life story despite sailing the seas together for quite a while. He wants to know every little detail, laugh along at the good parts and comfort him at the bad parts.
Sanji lays down exhausted and falls asleep almost instantly. Zoro smiles as he sits down next to the cot, he positions himself to sleep as well and when he settles, he intertwines his hand with Sanji’s. Unconsciously, Sanji squeezes it and Zoro squeezes it back, a smile drawn on his face as he falls asleep next to the love of his life.
—
Nami was getting worried for Zoro so she started looking for him. Eventually, she found herself on the Sunny. If Zoro spotted the ship he would probably go there.
“Zoro! Zoro!” Nami calls for him, “Where the hell did he go? I swear to god we’re never letting you go off on your own,” Nami curses as she continues to look for the swordsman.
Finally, she opens the door to the infirmary, “Zoro-” She stops herself when she sees the scene. She slowly approaches them. Sanji is lying down on the cot, his eyes are puffy and red and to Nami’s relief his eyebrows are back to normal. She sighs and smiles. As Nami’s eyes scan the cook, she notices the earring in his ear and his hand being held. Zoro is sleeping with his head on his arms and his right hand is intertwined with Sanji’s. She can’t help but smile and pat the both on the head.
“You idiots,” She whispers before leaving, but she hears someone screaming outside.
“Nami! Did you find Zoro?!” Luffy yells out as he approaches the infirmary. Nami quickly stops him from entering.
“Luffy, shhh,” She shushes him, “Zoro is here with Sanji,” Luffy’s eyes light up, “He’s back to normal,” Before Luffy can respond Nami continues, “But they’re sleeping, let them rest for a while before marching in there”.
The captain smiles. At that moment, Robin and Usopp arrive.
“What’s going on?” Usopp asks. Instead of answering, Nami shushes him and points to the infirmary. The four of them peek their heads through the door to see Sanji and Zoro sleep while holding hands. Robin smiles fondly and Usopp gasps.
As they leave Usopp wonders, “So… He’s back to normal, right?”.
Nami can’t help the fond smile that spreads across her face, “Yeah,” She simply answers.