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Kuzan sat on a rock near the shore. The day was chilly, but he didn’t care. The cold didn't affect him, afterall, his devil fruit made it so he was always cold. He had spent a few minutes waiting for a certain someone who wanted to ‘talk with him’, a request which he took without questioning. He missed that person.
There weren’t many people Kuzan was close with. There was Garp, his mentor, Borsalino, his longtime friend, and Sakazuki, his longtime enemy. Out of them, he had only seen Garp after leaving the Marines and… that wasn’t a friendly reunion.
There was also someone else, who had appeared later in his life, but who was just as close. He didn’t get to spend much time with Smoker, especially after he moved out from Headquarters, but the time they were together? It was some of the best of his life. Smoker was grounded like no other marine, he made him feel at home, safe from the world and at ease. There was just something very appealing about that man, for some reason.
“Hey”, a voice behind Kuzan suddenly said.
He turned around to see the man he was waiting for, so Kuzan stood up and smiled at him. Maybe that smile was a bit forced in execution, but not in intention.
The scent of Smoker’s cigars started to settle in. He used to dislike the smell of smoke, but he had grown to associate it with him. It felt nice, it felt familiar.
“Have you recovered already?” Kuzan asked, looking at the scars on the other man’s face. Doflamingo had done a big number with that, but they looked healed enough. Sometimes, Kuzan thinks about what would have happened if he hadn’t showed up. It was… a scary thought, one he’d rather avoid.
“Yeah, but it took a painful amount of time,” Smoker answered with a sigh. He also took some seconds to inspect Kuzan with his eyes. “Sheesh, how do you manage to look worse every time I see you?”
“Shut up.” He knew that question was a joke, but it still implied some things he’d rather unpack later . “What did you want to talk about, anyway?”
Smoker sat down beside him. The two were now very close to each other and Kuzan didn’t know how to feel about that. On one hand, human company felt nice, but on the other, he was nervous… for some reason.
“I miss when you were a marine.” Smoker started. He took a deep breath. “Listen, this is hard for me to say, but I miss talking with you, knowing I could reach you. It doesn’t help that Akainu is like that . I hate marines like him and I hate having him as the fleet admiral.”
“What are you implying?”
“Nothing. I won’t try to get you back into the Navy.”
“Good thing, because I cannot return now.”
Smoker raised an eyebrow. Nice, he had said too much already.
“I have found my place and my objectives,” Kuzan decided to tell that and nothing else.
“Just what are you doing now?” Smoker was starting to get frustrated and for a second, Kuzan feared he might slip up, reveal things he shouldn’t have revealed and have Smoker hate him.
“Is that what you wanted to talk about?”
“I- no, it’s not that.”
All of a sudden, Smoker became shy. Silence surrounded the two of them, only broken by the wind. What were his intentions? Just what had they met up for?
“Smoker… I trust you.” Kuzan’s words were guided by his heart rather than brain now. “You can tell me anything you want, I won’t get mad. I just don’t want you to stay silent about whatever it is.”
Smoker took a deep breath. “I love you.”
“Eh?” Kuzan’s heart skipped a beat. He had to have heard that wrong, surely.
“I said what I said. I love you. I want to be with you. That’s what I wanted to tell you.”
Smoker stared into Kuzan’s eyes, waiting for an answer. At that moment, he realised something. The way he felt about Smoker, something he had a hard time understanding before, now made perfect sense. That feeling of ease he felt around him and the way he missed him when he wasn’t there…
“I love you too.”
It felt as if a weight had been lifted off his shoulders, and looking at Smoker, he probably felt the same too. Without much thinking, the two of them got closer together. They were hesitant to really do anything. They would try to speak again, but it was too hard to put the way they felt into words. It was Smoker who broke the silence, catching Kuzan completely off guard.
“Can I kiss you?”
He took some seconds to answer, “of course.”
Smoker picked up his cigars and exhaled the smoke out before turning to Kuzan. They got closer and were touching now, in a way that felt very different than any contact before that. They moved their heads until their lips touched and stayed like that for a few seconds. It felt like it lasted forever yet not enough at the same time. When they parted, Smoker caressed Kuzan’s cheek before hugging him, a hug which he returned. He had never felt more loved.
However, they had to move on from that moment. It would be really nice to just be able to forget about everything and be with each other, but the world moved around them.
“I have to go now.” Smoker said, with a hint of disappointment.
“That was nice. We should have done this sooner.”
“Yeah.”
The younger man stood up and Kuzan followed right after. He waited until Smoker boarded his ship to start moving himself. It was strange, but right now he felt especially lonely. He was so close yet so far from that feeling of loving and to be loved… Maybe he should drown it out with a drink.