Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Gardening, as a hobby, can be as simple or as complex as you make it. Sanji doesn't back down from a challenge. He doesn't remember when he starts collecting various herbs and vegetables from the various islands they travel to, but it soon becomes an addictive hobby. Robin is thoughtful in her advice on different methods of plant keeping. She recommends books on everything from permaculture to soil treatments. Sanji takes advice from Nami on pruning techniques seeing her fruit trees thrive even when they stay a while near a winter island, they never look more than a bit stressed. Usopp, offers strange wisdom and talks about how plants are more alive than we think. He tells Sanji he should only speak to the herbs with kindness and they will grow stronger for it. He thinks it odd, but does find himself whispering good mornings and aren't you looking beautiful to them all the same. Franky chips in to build various garden boxes and he's caught Brook playing soft melodies to the leaves.

The first time it happens, when he's out cold for a few days, he doesn't think about it. He returns to his garden all the same. Thankful for whoever took care of the plants while he was out. They really are everyone's even if he does take special care of the ones destined to be food. So he's grateful that the others pitched in when he was out.

It isn't the last time, it happens, and each time it does he's pleasantly surprised to see the plants remaining in top shape. So when he comes back to the Sunny after the debacle on Whole Cake Island, he's a bit shocked to see the plants a bit worse for wear. Salvageable, mostly, some wilting and in need of water, others clearly overwatered and browning from stress. It's a bit of a mess, but the casualties are few.

He's muttering to the plants in the morning, cutting dead leaves off with tiny scissors, testing the soil PH, and fussing like a mother hen when Luffy comes barreling through hungry for breakfast.

"Oh hey Sanji, breakfast ready yet?" he asks with a manic grin, one arm snaking toward the fridge, but easily deflected.

"It'll be a bit still, I'm trying to get the herbs back in shape. They're a little worse for wear."

"Yeah we tried to follow your little book thing, but the handwriting was... bad."

"Book thing?"

Like a magic trick, Luffy pulls a small green journal from... well somewhere and shoves it into Sanji's hands. 

"This, it's yours isn't it? Oops maybe that's why they don't look so good." He snatches something out of the fridge while Sanji is distracted and gets promptly chased out of the kitchen.

He turns the pages over in the little book, the handwriting is... bad. But the notes are perfect. PH levels, which plants do well with which others, how much water each plant needs, full watering schedules, micro-nutrient profiles. It's intense. It's something he had been meaning to do himself, but didn't get around to and, well, the plants always looked great after he was incapacitated for a while, so he didn't think it was necessary.

He was distracted through breakfast and ate in relative silence.

Robin snapped him out of his haze, waving a hand in front of his eyes.

"Is everything okay?" she asked gently, "you seem to be somewhere else."

"Oh, it's nothing really... but maybe you could help me with something." He fished the green leather-bound booklet from his pocket. "Where did this come from?"

"Oh that's Zoro's."

"Zoro? That moss head wrote down PH levels and micronutrients?"

"Well, we all helped, I mostly helped. And he listened to you quite closely when you talked about your plants... even if it did seem like he was asleep. He's quite observant. We did try to follow those instructions, but, well, it's quite complicated and his handwriting..."

"It sucks."

"I've seen easier poneglyphs to decipher."

"Huh." Sanji pauses looking down at the meticulous detail in the pages. "Never thought Zoro would care about the plants."

Robin's eyebrows raise, "He's always been the first one to tend to the plants when you can't."

"What? Seriously?"

"He never said anything?"

"Never."

"Hmm, that is like him though."

"It is?"

Robin gives one of her patented coy chuckles and leaves Sanji standing alone in the kitchen, dumbstruck, running his thumb over the cover of the notebook.

Chapter Text

Wano was, well, the less said the better. So much happened, so many changes, and the plants got lost in the shuffle. It wasn't uncommon to go a few days away from the Sunny. The plants could thrive on a little neglect. But this? The battle was arduous, the Sunny was targeted. It worked out, mostly, but the plants suffered.

A few were wilted and could be saved. Nami's trees and most of Robin's plants fared better, but Sanji's herb garden was hurting. A sigh slipped out between his lips as he gently caressed the battered leaves. He salvaged what he could, trimmed, pruned, and harvested half-ripe plants to save them from the compost pile.

It was a lot of work in addition to his regular routine, that night he hit the pillow and slept a dark dreamless sleep. It was for the best, he didn't want to wallow in his anxiety of what may come. Of the promises made. Of the changes to his body. If he let himself think on it, he'd never sleep again.

When he finally woke, he smelled something coming from the kitchen. Who had the audacity to cook in his kitchen? He steeled himself, it was likely Robin or Nami and he wasn't about to chastise a lady!

Of all the people he expected to see, Zoro wasn't even on the list. There he stood, pan on the stove, apron adorned, single eye squinting in concentration.

"Mosshead what do you think you're doing?" He snarled.

Zoro rolled his eye, "Relax, shit-cook I just made a few omelettes for the early risers. You looked like you needed the sleep."

Sanji's feet moved without his permission and he crowded into Zoro's space poking his finger accusingly at his chest, "don't you start pitying me."

"Ugh, stop overthinking things it's just a damn omelette. Besides this one's for me the only one suffering if I fuck it up is me "

Sanji grumbled something unintelligibly but his tone was clear. He was begrudgingly accepting this intrusion, but nevertheless still viewed it as an intrusion. He watched Zoro skeptically, but didn't intervene.

He expertly diced an onion with the finesse of someone intimately familiar with blades. He left a pretty sizable chunk of the bulb that had sprouted off to the side, Sanji reached for it and was promptly swatted away.

"Hey, Moss, that's a perfectly salvageable onion."

"Leave it. I'm going to plant it and let it go to seed to replace the ones we lost."

Sanji looked confused, "how do you know how to do that?"

"Mihawk."

"Mihawk? You mean Dracule Mihawk, your... Nemesis-"

"And mentor."

"Your nemesis and mentor."

Zoro nodded hoping that would be the end of it, but Sanji kept staring at him like he had grown a second head.

Zoro sighed deeply flipping his omelette and Sanji hated to admit it, but it looked... Good. He snatched a little piece as Zoro plated it.

"What the fuck, Moss?"

"What?!" Zoro snapped.

"This is actually edible." That earned Sanji a grunt and a "tch." from Zoro. "seriously, Zoro, this is... Unexpected."

"I'm allowed to have layers." Sanji kept staring at him and it was pissing Zoro off, "Mihawk lives on a weird island and he grows a lot of his own food. He's picky about his ingredients like you are. I learned some things, okay?" Sanji continued to stare. "You're making this weird curly brow!"

Sanji chuckles and turns to start prep for breakfast for the rest of the crew. "I'm sorry it's just surprising. It would be like if you saw me swordfighting. I'm sure it would throw you for a loop."

"Except you don't know how to swordfight."

"I never said that "

"Curly quit fucking with me."

"I learned when I was young. But I don't use my hands to fight." He paused and thought for a moment, "except for that weird noodle guy. I was able to use knives to fight him. Technicality."

Zoro was darkly quiet before he whispered, "noodle guy?"

"Back on the sea train. When Robin was taken. Usopp was there."

"Fuck would've paid to see that," he mumbled taking his plate and digging into his omelette while leaning against the countertop.

"Go sit down Moss, get outta my way."

Zoro ate quickly, "You need any help?"

Sanji side eyed him, "you serious?" Zoro nodded, "okay you chop swordsman." Sanji shoved vegetables in his direction.

"Sliced, diced? How do you want it?"

"Diced is good. Omelettes were a good idea. Going with that."

They worked in companionable silence. If anyone noticed, they didn't say anything. Breakfast was served and things seemed to go back to normal. A new normal though. Zoro was more often than not lingering around the kitchen. He was saving seeds from everything Sanji brought on board. Not everything sprouted, but the herb garden was already springing back to life. And if Sanji got an extra pair of hands in the kitchen from time to time, well, he wasn't about to complain.