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A constant in Zoro's life had always been that red string.
It was a delicate thing. A small bow tied onto his pinky finger, trailing off into the horizon. It seemed to dance with the wind, always swaying this way and that, never quite staying put.
The first time he'd seen it, he asked Kuina. The girl had gasped, eyes sparkling as she asked, “you can see it?”
“See what? The string?” A young Zoro had asked, frowning. “Yeah. Is it gonna interfere with my training or not?”
Kuina shook her head. “It's the red string of fate, Zoro! It connects you to your soulmate!” Kuina said, and she sighed dreamily.
“Soulmate?”
“They're your person,” Kuina paused to look for the right words. “They're the other half of your soul. You're destined to be with them.”
Zoro frowned even harder at that. Destined? It sounded like a load of bullshit to him. “Hmph. If they stop me from my dream, I don't want them.”
“Don't be like that, Zoro,” Kuina scolded lightly. “Not everyone can see their red string. You're lucky.”
That made Zoro hold his hand up to examine the red string once more. It moved as if it was moving through water, not air. As it did, it wafted through Kuina. The girl didn't react at all.
Zoro reached up. It was tangible to him, and he was able to grasp it carefully between two fingers. He tugged experimentally on it.
“Are you holding it?” Kuina asked, watching with rapt attention. “Apparently if you pull on it or something like that, your soulmate can feel it!”
Zoro sniffed. “Sounds annoying.”
“Boys,” Kuina rolled her eyes. “So brutish and unromantic.”
“What did you say?”
Kuina earned another win against Zoro that day.
-
That same night was when Zoro had first felt it. A hesitant tug back. Zoro held his hand up, blinking the sleep from his eyes. The red string glowed softly in the dark.
So, his soulmate was out there somewhere. Zoro wondered if he'd ever come across them, and whether or not they would accept his dream of becoming the greatest swordsman.
-
The tugs continued. Zoro picked up the habit of playing with the string, more absentminded than not, hands looking for somewhere to expel energy when not training.
His soulmate often tugged at the string, sometimes hard, sometimes careful. Zoro responded to all of them, even with his teeth when his hands were busy (Kuina had been disgusted at that).
Then there were times that his soulmate would pull endlessly at the string. Zoro had tried responding, had tried not responding. Responding made the tugs continue for hours. Not responding made them cease for days.
The times when his soulmate didn't respond always scared Zoro the most. It wasn't only that either; there were times where inexplicably, his soulmate would go silent for long periods of time.
He wondered often what got his soulmate acting like that, both the incessant tugs and not.
Then Kuina died.
Zoro finally understood why his soulmate would play with the string for hours. They were looking for somebody, anybody. To know that there was somebody with them.
He didn't know if he was better off not knowing or not.
-
A few days after Zoro joined Luffy's crew, he learned that the captain could also see his red string. He was the first person Zoro had met who also could.
Nami was endlessly curious about it, having never met anyone who could see their string. “Shishishi, I don't care who my soulmate is!” Luffy said with a cheerful smile.
“I don't either,” Zoro said. He didn't know why he was answering the redhead. Maybe it was because in that moment when her eyes lit up, he was reminded of that same sparkle in Kuina's eye.
The navigator rolled her eyes. “They're wasted on you two,” she said exasperatedly. Then she looked down at her own pinky, and said, a touch wistful, “Can you see mine?”
“Nope!” Luffy said, climbing up the mast of their boat. “But Makino could! She could see everybody's strings!”
That grabbed Nami's attention, and she rushed to interrogate their captain. Zoro closed his eyes, drifting off to sleep.
-
The days after blended together. There was hardly a pause as they met Usopp and consequently, took down the Black Cat Pirates.
With one more crew member, the days on their new ship were even livelier. Zoro observed the other three's shenanigans, occasionally joining in himself. They made him laugh harder than he had in a while.
He dedicated himself to training. When he was on shift at night, sometimes he'd follow where his red string trailed to. The red danced between the waves off the ocean, playfully weaving in and out.
Nami had asked them once, when the matter of the red string was brought up again over their plain dinner. Usopp had perked up, visibly curious about the string. Nami had asked, “where does your string lead to?”
Luffy had barely paused in his eating, food flying from his mouth as he answered, “It goes into the ocean!”
Then he'd stolen the rice off Usopp's plate, and they descended into chaos before Zoro could answer.
Now, Zoro felt a tug on the string, and automatically reached up to pull back at it. He twisted it around his finger. It felt cool against his skin.
His soulmate had stopped those random bouts of constant tugging or no response at all for a few years now, to which Zoro was grateful for. It was nice to know his soulmate was safe.
Nowadays, they only interacted late at night. A tug here, a yank back. Just to know they were still there. Still alive.
Zoro stared at his string, off into where it stretched far over the sea. Luffy's string and his own went in completely different directions, but now they were sailing towards his own, unbeknownst to his crew.
The string seemed more energetic nowadays. Maybe it had something to do with that.
-
“How long has he been gone?” Nami grumbled, staring at the Baratie. “He better not have gotten himself killed by Marines.”
“Um, I think we should be more concerned about ourselves!” Usopp gestured to the Marine ship parked right next to theirs.
Zoro didn't answer, staring at the Baratie. A floating restaurant, huh? He had no doubt that this was where they would probably pick up their cook. Where else would they be more likely to run into a seafaring cook? And knowing Luffy, it was highly likely that he'd ‘charm’ the cook into joining them.
It wasn't like he particularly cared about a cook. He wasn't one to be picky about food.
No, he was much more concerned about the fact that his red string led directly through the doors of the Baratie. Said string was practically vibrating by now, obviously excited for Zoro to meet his soulmate and vice versa.
Zoro didn't quite share the same sentiment. He wasn't dreading it, per se. It was more so that he was curious about who his soulmate was. And more importantly, if they'd accept his dream.
Nami had mentioned before how one was supposed to feel butterflies or moths or whatever when they saw their soulmate. Would he feel that?
Ah, whatever. Zoro leaned back against the mast, fully intent on taking a nap.
His plans were thwarted by Nami suggesting they go into the Baratie as customers. Zoro grumbled, but complied with the witch.
The moment he stepped onto the deck of the Baratie, his string kicked itself up into a frenzy. Zoro ignored it, adjusting his swords.
Nami opened the doors and the three of them headed in. There were quite a few people inside, all chatting as they dined. They were directed to an empty table near the middle of the room, and they all took a seat.
Finally inside, Zoro casually placed his hand on the table. His eyes followed the string. It tumbled over tables, behind chairs, around people…
Zoro's gaze finally landed on a blond man. Dressed in a suit, he was pouring out a glass of wine for a lady. One of his eyes was covered by his hair. The side that wasn't covered revealed a curly eyebrow, and a fine face.
Tch. So his soulmate was pretty.
Zoro glanced at the red string tied to the other man's pinky. Yeah, considering he could see the other's red string, they were definitely soulmates.
He expected something to happen. The moths Nami had mentioned, or trumpets or whatever. All he felt was a quiet shift in his heart, a soft oh, it's you.
Then Luffy noticed the three of them. “Ugh! You guys?”
The swordsman turned his attention back to his captain. “Hi, chore boy,” Nami smirked, raising a hand in greeting.
“So…you gotta work for a year,” Usopp sniggered.
“Can we change the ship's flag?” Zoro asked, just to add on to the mockery.
And of course, Luffy saw the food and drink on their table. And of course, he exploded. “You're eating without me?!” He shouted. “I'm slaving and you're eating out? That's mean!”
Nami and Usopp burst into laughter, while Zoro grinned. His outburst drew the stares of other customers.
“Quiet down, Luffy,” somebody drawled. Zoro turned his head to look at the blond man. “Are they your mates?”
He watched as the blond man glanced over them. Would he see the string and make the connection now? Zoro waited, tense.
But there was nothing. The man didn't seem to see the string, or assumed it went past Zoro. Out of the corner of his eye, the swordsman caught Luffy dumping his booger into his water.
“The food's not bad here,” Zoro said, lifting the cup. “But I do feel bad for you…”
Then he grabbed his captain and forced the water down the rubbery idiot's throat. “You drink it!”
Luffy protested, falling to the floor. “What'd you do that for?!”
“What did you do that for?!” Zoro shouted back, uncaring of the attention they drew. Nami and Usopp laughed themselves silly in the corner.
His string twitched. Zoro glanced up. The blond man stood just a few feet away. Frozen, cigarette dangling half out of his mouth.
Ah.
The man stared at the string tied onto Zoro's pinky. His face was oddly blank. For those few seconds, they just stared at each other.
Then another man called away the blond's attention. He turned away. The moment was gone.
Nami, ever observant, glanced at Zoro. “Zoro? What was that all about?”
“Nothing,” Zoro said gruffly. He sat back down, picked up Usopp's glass of water, and downed it. Nami raised an eyebrow, but didn't press it.
There was a commotion between the one-legged man and the blond man. Something about leaving the restaurant. The blond was apparently the assistant cook, Zoro noted.
He sensed it before it came. Quick as a flash, Zoro grabbed the dishes off the table, balancing one on his head. It prompted Nami and Usopp to do the same, just as the blond man was sent flying into their table.
Hmm. If the string was a tangible thing between them, he could've probably done something about that. But this seemed like a personal issue, and Zoro wasn't exactly one to interfere.
The argument came to an end with no real conclusion. The blond turned out to be a lady's man, evident in the way he treated Nami and them. Or well, Usopp. He didn't acknowledge Zoro at all.
He’s not bitter about it. No, he wasn’t.
-
Two days after that, a whole spiel of events happened. Zoro watched as the cook, Sanji, chose to feed the pirate Don Krieg, despite the other chefs’ protests. It was a stupid move, Zoro thought. There was no way the tyrant wouldn't turn on him. The way he stuck to his morals was respectable though.
He was proven right as he caught the shift in the pirate's demeanour. His arm came up, but Zoro was faster. Just as Sanji was about to be sent crashing to the floor, Zoro yanked the string.
Instead of the ground, the chef crashed into Zoro instead. The swordsman took the bulk of the impact, grunting as they hit the ground. “Ow, fuck!” Zoro groaned as the chef scrambled off him.
“Are you an idiot? The fuck was that for?” Sanji snapped, straightening his clothes.
Nobody seemed to notice the incident, focused on getting away. Sanji didn’t wait around for an answer either. Another string of events happened, which Luffy got himself tangled into. But one caught Zoro’s interest.
“The man with piercing hawk eyes, eyes that could kill with a glance!”
This was it. What he’d been waiting for. “Now I know where I have to go,” he said, arms resting on his swords. “To the Grand Line. That’s where I’ll find him!”
He felt Sanji’s eyes on him. “You’re fools. You’ll both be killed as soon as you get there,” he said with another drag of his cigarette. Whether out of concern or not, Zoro didn’t know.
“True enough,” Zoro said, leaning back against his chair. “But don’t insult us.”
He turned to look at the cook, expression utterly serious. “The day I decided to be the world’s greatest swordsman, I gave myself up for dead. Nobody calls me a fool but me.” He paused, adding, “I have my reasons.”
“Me too, me too!” Luffy proclaimed excitedly, shishishi-ing all the while.
“As a man, I must agree,” Usopp nodded.
Zoro hit the sharpshooter’s head with the hilt of his sword. “Right.”
He turned to look at Sanji, at his soulmate. What would be his reaction?
“Hmph…” Sanji finally said. “Stupid.”
Zoro couldn’t help the slight uptilt of his mouth. He didn’t believe the cook one bit. Now that he knew the guy a bit more, he had a deep feeling in his gut that the other had a dream too.
Someone yelled that the pirates were here. Zoro jumped into action, reminded that Nami, Johnny and Yosaku were still on the Merry Go. The two declared that Nami sailed off with Going Merry, to Zoro’s shock. Damn it, he shouldn’t have let his guard down around the witch.
Since Luffy insisted on having Nami as their navigator, Zoro prepared to chase after the thief. Or he was going to, until Hawkeye sailed in.
And Zoro would be an idiot not to challenge the man right there and then.
He was, obviously, soundly defeated. But he had gotten Hawkeye to draw his sword, hadn’t gotten any cuts on his back, and gotten the swords master to acknowledge him, so he counted that as a win.
“It’s easy!” He heard a familiar voice yell as he collapsed. “Abandon your stupid dream!”
Ah…was his soulmate going to be like that? How annoying. Zoro was fished out of the sea, Hawkeye Mihawk’s words to him ringing in his ears.
Strive to surpass him, huh? Fine, so be it. He’d do it, soulmates be damned.
-
The whole matter of Nami and Arlong was complicated. Zoro was getting a headache from it all. What was all this about Nami killing Usopp? “Cut the crap!” He yelled at Nami, drawing his sword.
It’s more of an automatic response than anything. He’s jerked out of it, however. Literally. His right hand went flying back and he’s wrenched back as well, arm almost torn from its socket.
Zoro glared at the cook, eyes full of venom. Their red string hung from his shoe, where he’d apparently used his leg to pull it. “What kind of swordsman attacks a young lady?” Sanji asked, smoke flying into the wind behind him.
“Stay out of this!” Zoro snarled back.
The rest of them were silent, jaws hanging open in shock. To them, it appeared as if Sanji had used some sort of invisible force to pull Zoro back.
“Hmph. After your humiliating defeat, it’s no wonder you’re in a foul mood,” Sanji said, voice cool, clearly ignoring the others.
Forget what he’d said before. He didn’t have an ounce of admiration for this idiot of a man. “What?! Hold your tongue…or I’ll send your head flying.” A threat not entirely empty, with Zoro holding his unsheathed sword to the other’s neck. In his left hand instead of his right this time.
“Try it,” Sanji said. His gaze darted down to their string, then back up to Zoro. He didn’t comment on that, saying instead, “you can barely stand.”
Johnny interrupted them. Zoro wordlessly sheathed his blade, turning his attention back to Nami instead. She stormed away when Luffy fell asleep, and Johnny and Yosaku both left as well. Zoro sat down in the sand beside his captain, settling against his swords.
Sanji sat a few ways behind, smoking against a tree. “Hey.”
“Yeah?”
“Could Nami really have killed Usopp?”
Zoro considered that. Sanji was new to the crew; he wouldn’t know yet. Zoro glanced at him, allowing a smirk to creep up as he spoke, “I told her she wasn’t really a witch woman…maybe she decided to prove me wrong.”
Sanji’s hand twitched. “Witch woman?”
There was a tense moment, where Zoro readied himself if Sanji attacked him for insulting Nami again. Which was really annoying actually, he had no right in how Zoro talked about her.
It never came. Sanji thumped his head back against the tree, taking another drag of his cigarette. Between them, their red string spilled all over the ground, glistening like a winding lake.
“We gonna talk about that?” Zoro asked gruffly.
Sanji glanced at him. Then he looked back at the sky. “No.”
And they left it at that, till Usopp came running back, well and alive.
-
They didn’t talk about it. Nami and Usopp attempted to pry at first, but neither were willing to say a word. They gave up eventually.
Chopper was a new, adorable addition to the crew. The reindeer was terribly endearing, and Zoro found himself subconsciously drawn to him, protective of the little doctor.
He was also assigned to go on islands with Zoro when the swordsman successfully got out of being the cook’s pack mule. The first time, the reindeer had been appalled by Zoro’s ‘utter lack of direction’, as Nami so wrongly put it. He could find his way perfectly fine, damn it.
They stopped at a port for a quick supply run. Zoro jumped off the ship. He needed to get some gear for his swords, and he hoped that the island would have a swordsmith or something similar.
It wasn’t until he was in the heart of the town that he realised he’d forgotten to wait for Chopper. Oh well, he’d get his stuff first before he went to find the little doctor. He successfully found the town’s blacksmith. The gear was pretty decent for a reasonable price, he was happy to find. Zoro hummed as he left the store.
He wandered off in search of Chopper. But the land was moving again, and by evening, Zoro somehow found himself on a cliff. He stood at the edge, peering down the long drop. Chopper probably wouldn’t be at the bottom.
“Oi, Marimo.”
Zoro straightened up. Turning, the cook walked casually over to him, holding a lit cigarette. “How did you even end up here?” Sanji said as he shook his head, bemused.
“How did you find me?” Zoro chose to ask instead. Sanji rolled his eyes, but let him get away from answering the question.
Instead of verbally answering, he held up his hand. Ah. The string. Zoro frowned down at his own hand, tracing the string’s path, leading back to Sanji. “So you always know where I am?” Zoro said, glancing back up at Sanji.
The cook blew smoke out, pouring all his irritably into the singular move. “Yeah, but if anything, you should be finding me,” Sanji scoffed. “I don’t have time to spare to look for lost little mossballs.”
”Little?!”
When they got back to the Going Merry, Nami simply sighed.
-
“Love is certainly a wonderful thing, isn’t it, swordsman-san?”
Zoro snapped his head up, away from where his red string led to a closed door. Robin sat with Brook, both sipping cups of tea. The former had a serene smile on her face, while the latter looked, well, Zoro didn’t understand how a skeleton could so clearly convey amusement, but he did. He frowned.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he said, folding his arms behind his head to rest against the tree he was leaning on.
“Yohohoho, it is clear to see that you are deep in the throes of denial! Though I have no eyes to see! Yohohoho!”
Robin’s smile remained unchanged. Her black eyes turned back to Zoro— no, past him. Zoro followed her gaze to the red string on the wooden deck.
His throat constricted.
“You can see,” he said. A statement, rather than a question.
The devil fruit user’s smile was light. “I can,” she agreed, setting the teacup down. It made a soft clink.
Zoro stared at her. She looked back. Zoro broke eye contact first.
“It is a lucky thing,” Robin began. “To be able to see it.”
He knew that. Everyone who knew he could see had told him that.
“Or maybe it isn’t, to some.”
He paused, words dying in his throat.
“...What do you mean?” He finally asked.
Robin picked up a biscuit delicately. “It isn’t a good or a bad thing to be able to see your string. After all, what matters is what one chooses to do with it.”
Brook had started up a slow tune on his violin, bow dragging across the strings. “Yoho, I have seen the broken hearts of many who chose not to dare. And I have seen the regret of those who did.”
The swordsman narrowed his eyes. “Why would they?”
“Sometimes, one chooses their soulmate, but their soulmate doesn’t choose them. Other times, they are left wondering about all the what-ifs,” Robin answered. She bit into the biscuit. The crack resounded. “Mm, delicious as always.”
The unspoken question hung in the air.
What will you choose?
In her own way, Robin was making sure the balance of the crew would remain. That they wouldn’t be torn apart should anything happen between Zoro and Sanji. That they wouldn’t be forced to choose sides.
Zoro recognised that. Could respect it, even.
Something hot still ran in his veins.
“Both are stupid,” he said shortly.
There’s a pause, only interrupted by what was most definitely a love song on Brook’s violin.
“I see,” Robin said, shoulders relaxing minutely. Her smile softened, though it had tipped into near-amusement. It was downright creepy, Zoro decided, how she seemed to be able to take one look at somebody and know everything about them.
With that, the conversation was over.
-
Time passed.
It didn’t matter that he and Sanji used the string to protect one another, pulling each other out of harm’s way, often accompanied with sharp words. It didn’t matter that Sanji used it to find Zoro whenever the buildings and trees began moving. It didn’t matter that they grew closer and closer. It didn’t matter.
Sabaody was a mess. They met Trafalgar Law, who Luffy promptly claimed was his soulmate. It kickstarted a whole host of issues, such as Luffy attempting to ‘kidnap’ Law and only being dissuaded by said man and Nami. Then they’d been separated.
Zoro had wound up on some dark and creepy island. He thought he’d left that all behind on Thriller Bark — which was a whole other can of worms he’d yet to open with Sanji, other than the blond’s fury towards him — but that was evidently not the case. Especially after he’d met that pink-haired ghost girl again. But he’d managed to come under Mihawk’s mentorship.
Everyday, his string glowed a healthy red. Sanji was fine. They didn’t stop the routine of tugging at night. Never did. Zoro would initiate it more often than not as he usually went to bed sooner than the cook. But he never properly went to sleep until he felt Sanji’s pull back.
“You can see?” Perona asked, far too near to Zoro’s ear.
The swordsman jerked. The room came back into focus. He still wasn’t able to get a grasp on observation haki, so the soundless ghost had come as a genuine shock to him. Which was one of the reasons he was so determined to pick it up.
“Fucking— stop doing that!” Zoro barked at her. He untwisted the string that he’d been winding absently around his pinky. “See what?”
Perona looked completely unapologetic. “The red string, of course! Are you an idiot?”
“Yeah, what’s it to you?”
He expected the usual comments. That it was romantic, that he was lucky, that they were jealous. Only, Perona frowned. “That’s not very nice, is it?”
Huh?
She floated lazily up to the ceiling, spiralling down as she spoke. “You can’t fall in love with someone else because you’d know they’re not the one for you. And even if you do, you have to live with the guilt of it everyday,” she said, pulling a face. “That’s not fun at all!”
It was similar to how Luffy thought. His captain didn’t care for his red string; he would love whoever he wanted to. Zoro hadn't expected it from Perona.
But her words made him consider; if he didn't have this tie to the cook, what would their relationship be like?
Maybe they'd be closer. Maybe they'd be more distant. Hell, maybe they wouldn't even be crewmates.
No. Zoro knew, deep down, that they wouldn't change at all. Their relationship wasn’t built upon their soulmatism; rather, it was built upon their honest emotions and attitudes towards one another. The red string was just something a little extra, giving them a connection that was theirs and theirs alone.
And perhaps, he wouldn't want it any other way.
The door opened. Mihawk stepped into the room, impassively taking in Zoro sitting cross-legged on the carpet in the middle, then Perona hovering in the air. “Perona,” he sighed, pinching his nose bridge.
The ghost girl pouted. “But I’m bored!”
“You can tend to the gardens if you are so inclined to. This time is for Zoro to practice his observation haki, undisturbed.”
“That’s boring. Did you know Zoro can see?”
Mihawk turned to glance at Zoro. He gritted his teeth. “You don’t have to go telling everybody, ghostie.”
“It is nothing to be embarrassed about,” Mihawk said, taking interest in the topic for some reason. Zoro tried not to knock himself out with his sword. “It is a useful thing if they are also a fighter.”
That was an odd thing to say. Zoro frowned. “Why?”
“Of course, with soulmates being two halves of the same soul, there is no one better to share a battlefield with. Soulmates are known to have high compatibility, and work fluidly together. It’s amplified in life-and-death situations,” Mihawk said smoothly. “There is also the matter of a red string being a constant point of connection. It is useful for drawing each other out of harm’s way.”
It was definitely a fighter’s perspective. Yet it was no less jarring to hear the red string used in a context completely outside of romance aloud, even if Zoro had already known its uses in a battle.
Huh.
Perona looked curiously at Zoro. “So do you know who it is?”
He grunted. “As if I’d tell you, ghostie.”
Zoro closed his eyes again, listening to Perona’s offended squawks.
-
It was good to be among his nakama again.
And, as the string seemed very excited to remind him, with Sanji again.
When he’d laid eyes on Sanji again, after two years, something in him had settled back into its rightful place, the last puzzle piece snapping into its position, finishing a long put-off puzzle. The first thing on Sanji’s tongue had been an insult. The world was on its axis again.
They breezed through Fishman Island, and met Trafalgar Law again soon after on Punk Hazard. Luffy had been ecstatic to see his soulmate again, agreeing to ally with him without a second thought. Zoro wasn’t wholly sure what Luffy’s idea of an alliance was, but it didn’t seem to be the conventional one.
That wasn’t his problem. Law could deal with that.
Dressrosa was a hot mess, but they were victorious, and with Law's help they managed to meet up with the rest of the crew on Zou.
Well, almost all of them.
Sanji was gone.
-
The nightly tugs ceased.
At least, on one end. Zoro didn’t stop.
-
Zoro sat in the crow’s nest, meditating. The Thousand Sunny rocked gently as they sailed onto their next new adventure. On his pinky, he could feel the string shifting until he heard the cook step inside. His shoes clacked neatly against the wooden floor as he walked closer.
Zoro listened as Sanji sat beside him. There was the familiar click of his lighter, then the smell of smoke permeated the air. They were quiet for a while, just existing in each other’s space.
“I’m sorry,” Sanji eventually said.
It was probably the last thing Zoro wanted to hear right now. “…For what?”
“Just accept the apology, damn Marimo,” Sanji snapped.
Zoro opened his eye to glance at him. He liked how Sanji looked like this; at peace, free of the weight on his shoulders. So he simply grunted in response, closing his eye again.
Silence fell between them once more. The tension on the string was welcome as Sanji played with it, twisting and twirling it between deft fingers. Probably making a cat’s cradle, or something similar.
“I’m glad it’s you,” Sanji spoke again. It bounced gently off the walls. Zoro made a questioning noise. “That…that. That you’re my soulmate.”
The words broke the tranquil silence. His eye snapped open. The blond cook’s cheeks were dusted red, eyes concentrated on the cat’s cradle he was currently forming in his hands. The red string shimmered between his fingers.
“…Me too.”
-
Seriously, the buildings needed to stop moving.
Zoro frowned as he found himself in front of the same shop again, with red curtains in the windows. Was it laughing at him? It probably was, the damn walking thing. Probably gloating all about it to its buddies. They were all in it together.
…Alright. So maybe he was lost.
Not that he’d ever admit that to his crew. Nami, Luffy and Sanji would never let him hear the end of it. With a sigh, he finally admitted defeat and glanced down at his red string. It led in the complete opposite direction of where he’d been going. With an angry huff, he began to follow the red string.
It wasn’t long before he spotted the cook’s blond hair. Said man was perusing the fish at a stall near the Thousand Sunny. He glanced up as Zoro drew near. “Hey, marimo,” he greeted. Zoro nodded in answer, taking the bags of groceries off Sanji. “Still getting lost?”
“No,” Zoro denied.
“Sure you didn’t,” Sanji said in amusement. “Come on then, not-lost-marimo.”
Sanji took Zoro’s hand into his own and led Zoro back home, to the Thousand Sunny.
-
The kiss was nothing special.
It wasn’t after something life-or-death happened, nor was it in front of the other members of their crew. No, they were alone in the quiet of the galley after dinner, when the rest were out on the deck, winding down.
An age-old habit, Zoro and Sanji shared the task of washing the dishes. Truth be told, Zoro would do them all on his own if he could, since the cook already spent so much time cooking and everything, but Sanji insisted on doing this too. Zoro had long since given up trying.
When the last dish was washed, Sanji yawned. “You should go to bed, cook,” Zoro said, setting the dish down to dry with the others.
“Yeah, yeah,” Sanji said. “Goodnight, Marimo.”
And he’d leaned in, pressing a kiss to Zoro’s lips. There weren't fireworks exploding in the background, or butterflies erupting in his stomach. It felt much more like coming home, a warmth blooming within him.
It was chaste. Sanji pulled back, yawning sleepily as he headed off. Zoro watched their red string unfurl between them, extending as Sanji disappeared below decks.
Zoro washed his hands, dried them, and followed the red string, because he knew it would always lead to home.