Archive of Our Own

The Strawhat, in one way or another, will always find troubles coming their way, or, in their usual case with their captain, crashing into one.

But there is time they will get invited for one. Like an invitation to form an alliance to take down an Emperor of the Sea; or an invitation for a wedding that is set to happen right when the bride and the groom meet in the same old traditional way. 

“Sanji’s father?” 

Listening to Nami’s question, the swordsman of the Straw Hat rarely let out his own expression, but now his good eye wide opened in surprise. 

He can hear a silence following Nami’s question; a confirmation nod. Then the Mink’s voice continues, proceeding to tell them about the consequences of those who deny Mama’s invitation, and of course more about the Germa 66, a warmongers group that is believed to be mythical until today.

“But Sanji’s our cook!”, he hears the bed shrieks, suggests that Luffy jumps down from Pekoms’s bed, along with his familiar flip-flops' sound tapping on the floor. “I can’t wait around like this. Let’s go get him back and ask him directly!”

While Luffy’s way of dealing things will definitely drag a grumpy Trafalgar Law into reminding him about their alliance and their main focus on Kaido, Zoro is outside, still in shock that Sanji is about to have a wedding, long after Brook and Nami told them about the encounter with Capone Bege. 

A wedding. Without him, Zoro. His boyfriend . His partner. 

Their relationship is not a secret for the whole crew. Since day one, they couldn’t keep their hands off each other and pretty much everyone on the crew knew about this. Of course, for their friends’ sanity, they kept their relationship’s display at a friendly-kid’s level when they stayed together on the ship.

The point is, they don’t have a need to tell that to the whole world. Even if they want to. With Marines and bounty hunters chasing after them everyday, not to mention other pirates’ crew, they have too much on their plate to handle, and clearly, declaring their relationship for the whole world to know is not the priority.

Maybe that’s why there is someone out there who thought the stupid cook was still some hot bachelor of the sea. Zoro doesn’t even consider the chance that the shit cook will voluntarily go to meet some girl like he bluntly wrote in that lame letter he left behind, even before hearing about his family. There is no way the cook abandons them like this, not when he knows they are up to face an Emperor. He is strong enough to take care of himself, and he is one of the most responsible ones, knowing what to do in each circumstance, except when it involves fighting women. 

The more Pekoms tell them about Mama’s horrendous action against people who deny her invitation, the more Zoro feels sour. Of course it has to be a trap. The other Emperor must have held his father and all of Baratie’s staff as hostages. And even this crew themself, but there is no way they stay as some helpless damsels in distress waiting for the cook to rescue them. 

He sighs, closing his eye when he hears the flapping sound get closer to where he is. Of course his cook has to throw himself into some life-threatening and self-sacrificing situations to prove his worth to the crew. Zoro knew about this game from the first day he saw Sanji fight. The man jumped into a freaking pool and fought a fishman, in their own territory. Then hearing the story about how he bravely and determinedly tossed Luffy and Nami into a higher place to escape an avalanche, letting himself be buried under the snow. Then seeing him offered himself up to one of the Warlords, telling straight to his face to “find another cook”...

Well, Zoro would do the same in his shoes to protect his crew, but he would be sure to come back alive because that is how he handles things. But the cook? All that time he was ready to throw his life away, without intention to stay. 

Each time it happened, Zoro was mad. Each kiss and touch after it became less affection and more guilt from the cook. He hated it, but he couldn’t wander far from them. 

And now the cook pulls this stunt. The man is naive. As if he truly believes that there is another one who is capable of keeping them alive, cooking for Luffy, and defending their food from the rubber captain himself. And once Luffy determines that he wants someone to be in his crew, he will stick to it to the end. Isn’t what they had been through to get Nami and Robin to stay are the best examples they have?

Or maybe he does know it. That’s why he leaves the note, hoping that they won’t follow him and instead happily and obediently sit around, waiting for him to come back. What Brook said minutes ago, when they were on their way to see Pekoms, suddenly turned into a prophecy itself. Of course, the cook understood his captain too well to know that there was no way the Straw Hat became an Emperor’s underling simply through a wedding, so cutting ties with them if he couldn’t get himself out of this mess is that idiot’s best conclusion. 

Unfortunately, that won’t work. Especially now that they know the real motivation for him to leave and Zoro is running out of patience from waiting for his boyfriend to realise how precious he is. 

///

After much discussion and fighting, the Straw Hat finally separates into two groups.

Robin, Franky and Usopp leave for Wano with Law, while Zoro, Luffy, Nami, Chopper and Brook on their way to Big Mom’s territory, with Pekoms and Pedro accompanying them.

If possible, the whole crew will go and get their cook back. However, Trafalgar Law once again reminds them about the upcoming fight and the alliance. Robin couldn’t risk turning a rescue mission into a survival fight in case Big Mom changes her mind and wants to capture Robin to transcribe the poneglyph. Franky couldn’t leave Robin alone and of course Usopp is more on board with blending into a new territory rather than going face to face with an Emperor, especially after his crucial part in taking down one of the Warlords that definitely drained him.

It’s rare for two, and later three, strongest members to stay in the same group, Usopp strongly protests against it. He would rather have Zoro with them to feel safer when they stay with that emo doctor and enter a whole new land where the fierce Emperor stays. But everything had been decided, there was no way he could change it. 

///

So the Sunny sails into Big Mom’s territory. Yes, they have nearly died from starvation on multiple occasions, if it was not thanks to Sanji’s recipe book and Nami’s way of cooking.

That night, when the Sunny once again falls into the darkness and tranquillity of the night, Pedro, in the middle of his guard, finds himself a companion.

From the roof of the crow nest, he sees light on the kitchen. With curiosity on whether there is someone still awake or the light has been forgotten, the jaguar Minks gently jumps down and lands on the soft grass on the deck. The closer he gets to the door, the easier he picks up sounds thanks to his senses.

“Trouble sleeping?”, he asks while opening the door. 

The dim warm light reveals the swordsman sitting on the sofa in the dining room, with a bottle of drink in his hand. Zoro raises his head and nods at the Minks.

“Are you thinking about Sanji?”, Pedro asks, inviting himself to sit on the vacant chair next to the table, face to face with the swordsman. 

“Yes”, Zoro’s immediate responses make Pedro’s ear stand up in anticipation. 

“I see”, Pedro exhales. “He talked a lot about you when he was there.”

“Of course he is”, Zoro smirks. “I’m not surprised. Still waiting for the day he runs out of insulting words for me.”

“That’s… not what he said”

“Oh?”

“He told me about your, uh, relationship”. Confronting Zoro’s waiting look, Pedro shakes his head and smiles. “It’s, uh, when after Chopper and everyone saved us. I realised I had taken some interest in knowing Sanji. I wanted to invite him out for a while. He turned me down gently and told me about you.”

“Oh.” Zoro rubs his neck, not really knowing what to say with who once falling into the cook’s charms and being turned down.

“It’s very lovely what you guys are having. I’m sure this is a very dark time for you guys”

“Not really, we had worse days, in my opinion.”

“Yes?”

Maybe because of the lonely night, maybe because of the faint eagerness in Pedro’s voice, and maybe because of his thoughts keep wandering back to the cook, Zoro starts to tell Pedro about their adventures, about all the time he fell hard and harder for the cook, and even the time he was mad at him for doing silly things. 

Pedro cackles. “You guys are so alike. He told me the same thing too. Not as simple and straightforward as yours, of course. He was somehow more detailed and exasperated for what you have done.”

“As if he didn’t do the stupid same thing”, Zoro mumbles, then finishes the bottle of wine he has with. 

“I can see that you guys trusting each other deeply.”, Pedro crosses his arms and tilts his head. “Then, why are you here?”

“Are you saying that you thought I’m not trusting him enough to deal with his own fight?”

“I’m not. But please forgive me for a moment of thinking about that case.”

Zoro leans back to the sofa, his eyes gazing to the kitchen, where he could immediately make out the whole routine and familiar back of the cook making meals for them everyday, with his usual cigarette in between his lips. 

“I trust his strength. But I don’t trust his mind. It’s… all I can figure out for now.”

Pedro chuckles as a reply. They stay together for a while until Pedro takes off for his shift and Zoro lies down on the same sofa in the galley, his usual spot for nap ever since they left Zou.

///

Luffy ate a poisoned fish and the future King of Pirate is about to die in a strange sea because of a freaking fish. Why is Zoro not surprised?

They are on their way closer to Big Mom’s territory when Luffy faints. In between Chopper’s desperate crying and Nami’s sniffling, the rest spot some strange figure lurking right behind them. 

Pedro and Zoro are the first ones to pay attention. Zoro put his hand on his sword, waiting for violence unveil with the newcomer. Greeting them is a huge silhouette of a ship, with a shadow standing on the railing of the ship. Now that Zoro pays attention, it looks exactly like a den den mushi, but bigger to be a ship.  

Chopper must have seen the stranger’s face because as soon as he sees it, he happily shouts. “Sanji! Sanji is that you! Help! We need more antidote because Luff–”

Zoro covers the doctor’s mouth and pulls him backward, putting more distance between them and the ship, Nami follows Zoro’s move. Pedro and Brook take out their swords.

“It’s not the cook”, Zoro whispers, then pushes the trembling doctor behind him, shielding Luffy and Chopper for whoever is standing there. It must be some mistake. The cook doesn’t have such a huge figure like that, especially too broad shoulders. He is more of a slender and strong type, with long legs and firm yet soft thighs to imprint marks on it. This stranger has nothing like his cook.

The stranger decides to pull down the hood and Zoro immediately understands why Chopper was mistaken. It’s an identical face like his cook, but with green hair. This guy must be some sick joke that this land decides to mess with their head even though they haven’t even set foot deep in it; because there is no way with that face, the cook spit out heartless and cold words like leaving their captain dying here. 

Another one interferes with their conversation. After kicking the green-haired bastard into the ocean and landing on their grass (Zoro huffs when the enemy enters their territory while Brook swirls around and praises the landing as “charming”), the second newcomer turns out to be a pink-haired woman. Vinsmoke Reiju, she introduces herself. And she goes on as far as nonchalantly replying to Pekom’s words about her mystery and powerful kingdom, before settling down and saving his captain’s life (by literally sucking his life poison out of his body).

“You can drop all of that talk”, Zoro hisses, his grips tighten around the handle of his sword. “We don’t care about whatever brother or family you are talking about. We are here for our cook.”

Reiju stares at Zoro with an icy look. “You can say whatever you want. But Sanji is one of the Vinsmoke. Now it’s time for him to fulfil his duty.” And she goes on with her speech about how her family thanks them for “taking care of” her brother and all of the royal shit that Zoro let it pass his head. He wants to give her a slice to shut her up, just like what he had done with the snow woman, but it feels wrong to attack someone who has just saved his captain.

The green-haired man is even worse than this pink chick. After coming out of the water with all weird things on his feet making him float, he keeps on saying all superiority and insulting shit to the crews. Zoro is itching to cut him down. 

“Thank you for your help, Sanji’s sister”, Luffy, now fully recovered, stands up. “But we will take Sanji back. He is one of us.”

The woman shrugs, suggesting that she has done her very best to settle this. Then, she returns to her ship and leaves, along with the green-haired man. 

Something about this meeting leaves a bad taste in Zoro’s mouth. As if he’s being forced to gulp down a cheap drink that he can figure out just by its smells from miles away. 

///

In his own typical way, Zoro is lost.

Correction, the damn road changed itself. What kind of place has sweets to build their house and make their road? They didn’t count on the possibility that some visitors would come and eat their place, like Luffy and Chopper did, huh?

Lucky for them, the owner said it was ok. She even invited them in to having tea with her. The woman is a pasteur, specialist in chocolate. Great, something Zoro hates. 

And that wasn't even worse. The worst thing was that she introduced herself as Charlotte Pudding, the cook’s fiancée.

That called for Zoro’s attention. He observed her closely while Luffy and Nami eagerly asked her about the blond and the way to meet him; he couldn’t stop thinking that this woman was someone who would marry the cook. He felt cringe and strange with the idea of the cook standing next to her. 

She seemed nice. Even Nami said that after their meeting. But Zoro didn’t like the way her face twitched whenever she talked. Especially when she spouted nonsense about how charming the cook was while turning her down. It sounded… fake. He trusted his own gut and told them right there and then. But really, they had no choice but to trust her, since she was the only one who told them a route to approach the cook. 

And now back to the present, he has been wandering in this forest for hours, and none of his friends is in sight. Remembering that this is a stealth and quiet mission, Zoro accepts going around until he comes back to where he is for the third time. He sighs and takes out his swords.

///

By the time Zoro finally gets out of the maze by cutting endless trees and flowers dancing and singing on his way, he finds a pink tall wall, apparently a castle. He huffs and sheaths his sword away, resorts on finding a way in without destroying more things on his way. 

After a while, Zoro finally gets inside. A way to enter the castle and get into this secluded garden without raising alarms from the guard. Lucky for him, it looks like there is already someone making a mess, accidentally helping Zoro’s infiltration easier. Things become smoother when Luffy, the trouble’s magnet, isn't around. 

Zoro hates this place. He feels like he is drowning in sweets with the way the air fills with sweet smell and everything he touches are sweets. Even the rain pouring down where he is hiding is also sweet, making his shirt glues to his skin. He had decided to take a nap before continuing his search, yet the rain perfectly ruined the plan for him.

Zoro wipes away water (nope, it’s syrup. Fucking disgusting) on his face when he hears a familiar voice. He cranes his neck from his hiding to look around and sees a window with bright light. Focusing on picking the voice out from the sound of the rain, Zoro rushes his memory to look for whose voice it is. 

“... telling me to marry such a loser! Do you see his face? Pffff! And by this time tomorrow, he and the rest of his freak family, including you, will die! So no thank you, I will be spared from marrying that loser.”

Zoro feels cold and terrified. Not because he finds out that it is Pudding's voice, the fact that he accepts very quickly, but because he sees the blond.  

The last time they saw each other, he was wearing a stupid moustache and a suit, swirling around and singing about how romantic Dressrosa was. Now, he has changed into white shirt and black pants, with a red coat that really makes him a royal, yet looked so bizarre for Zoro. He is leaning back to the wall next to the window, keeping his head down and ignoring the rain pouring on him. Flashes of fire dancing on where his cigarette is, but quickly being put out. 

Zoro is about to call him when he remembers he can’t be spotted by the enemy, counting that Pudding is entirely on Big Mom’s crew. So when the cook turns his back and follows a passage to come back inside, Zoro quietly follows. 

They keep going, hallway after hallway, until they reach a vacant one with a bench. The cook sits down tiredly, putting a deformed basket next to him, then he buries his face in his hands. 

Whatever had happened must be bad enough to mess with the cook’s senses, because Zoro has followed him and is now standing right next to him, but the idiot doesn’t show a sign that he knows about the other’s presence.

“Found you”

The cook startles and raises his head up. Meeting the familiar blue shade of eyes, Zoro quietly sighs in relief. But it is quickly replaced with anger when he sees how red and puffy those eyes are. 

Curly has good endurance. The most expressive he could have when he’s in pain is a frown, even when his bone is shattering or his flesh being cut. He would become clingy or put up an exaggerated act to make the ladies of the crew happy. Now, he’s crying.

Zoro sees red and tastes blood. He quickly crouches down to the cook’s eyes level, grabbing his shoulder in between the cook’s shock expression. 

“Who makes you cry? What happened?”, his good eye wanders up and down, searching for a severe wound. He can’t bring himself to relax even when there’s none, a sign which means worse. 

“Mossy”, the cook hiccups. Instead of answering Zoro’s question, he cups a hand on the swordsman’s face and rubs his thumb on his cheek bone and follows the scar. “You… you really here? Mosshead?”

“Of course I’m here”. His hand is so cold, sending a shiver to Zoro. He hurriedly grabs it and presses a kiss in his palm, noticing how jumpy the cook is when he accidentally brushes his hand to the new golden bracelet on his wrist. “I’m here”.

“You… you are here”, the cook sighs, but then he quickly stands up, anxiously looking around in the vacant hall. “ YOu are here. Shit, I can’t believe it. You are NOT supposed to be here! What if Big Mom and Germa finds you? Wait, first of all, let’s find another place to let you out of here.”

One hand he grabs at Zoro’s hand, the other he picks the basket up, then pulls the swordsman to run with him. They reach a big door and quickly enter it, which turns out to be a spacious but vacant infirmary.  

“Cook, who hurts you?”

“It’s…it’s nothing.”

“Look, we have come this far and you still keep up that shit? I want to hear the truth from you.” The cook looks smaller than Zoro remembers, keeping his head down and refuses to look at him. 

Zoro slides a hand under the cook’s chin and raises his face up, taking into the cook’s face. Damp strands of hair glues on his face, his eyes are puffy and red after the cry, and his mouth quivers and curls into a pout. 

This is the first time Zoro has seen this expression. The face that one can only have when he has been through hell alone. It’s beyond upset and sadness; it’s a mixture of suppressed anger, misery, pity, and desperation. 

The cook closes his eyes, as if he is scared that Zoro could see more and beyond his pain. “I…I did a wrong thing, Mossy. Very very wrong… I… can’t be by your side anymore”

“What do you mean?”

“I…”, the cook hesitates to speak up. Zoro moves closer to him, surprised that the blond takes a step back, away from him. His grips on his chin tightens, successfully pulling the cook’s attention back. He could wait as long as the blond wants, but Zoro refuses to let him go away, again. 

The man appears determined to pour his heart out. “I… fought with Luffy. I disobeyed our captain and attacked him, even when he didn’t fight back. I can’t come back to the crew anymore, Zoro.”

At that moment, a flash from the lighting comes across outside of the window where they are standing, followed by heavy thunder. Zoro gets a brief clearer look on the cook’s face. It’s a mess and there’s something… off. But he doesn’t have much time to dwell on it. 

“I’m sure that he has his own reason to act like that. But you. I want to hear it from you. Your own reason. Don’t tell me you abandon everything and run off with that girl. She’s not worth it.”

“Ah yes, my fiancée”, the cook huffs in amusement. “Lovely, isn’t she? Didn’t you also hear what she said back there?”

“I didn’t get the whole thing.”

“But enough”, the cook nods, once again trying to break free from Zoro’s grip but fails for Zoro’s stubbornness. The swordsman moves from holding his chin to brush a strand of blond hair away, tucking it behind his ear. 

That’s when he feels something strange on the cook’s face. His finger brushes through something like a piece of plastic or paper sticking near where the ear is. Without thinking or even asking for permission, Zoro absentmindedly grabs on it and pulls. 

“NO– STOP–!”

The cook’s distressed yelp is too late to stop the delicate mask from peeling off his skin. 

Another light comes through the window, and this time it feels like time freezes for Zoro. 

His face, his real face , is beaten up. Bad . Bloat with wounds. 

Throwing away whatever disgusting thing he has peeled off, Zoro grabs on the cook’s face, pulls him closer and moves the fringe away, ignoring the desperate plea and begging to stop from the blond. 

He has black eyes on both. His cheeks turn red and puff, swollen and covered in bruises. Cuts scatter all over his face, across his distinctive curls. His lips have tremendous cuts, pricking red and purple. Following the delicate jawline, Zoro finds more cuts and bruises until they disappear behind the white shirt.

“Who. Did. This?”, Zoro growls, not feeling regret or sorry when he feels the blond squirms and makes himself smaller. Good. He should be scared of what will come for them. 

“It’s…”

“Stop fucking bullshit me because this IS NOT NOTHING. Who did this to you? Big Mom?”

“No! It’s…”

Whatever truth Zoro is about to find out has to be delayed when they hear the door of the infirmary being swung open. The blond pushes Zoro until his back touches the wall in a secluded corner. He covers the swordsman’s mouth with his hand and signals him to stay silent. 

They stand there together, hearing faint comments and whispering of someone being brought inside and the doctor's order. They wait together until the room turns quiet again. 

Watching the blond secretly relieved to delay the talk, Zoro is pissed. His tongue reaches out and licks a line on the blond’s palm, making him startled but not enough to remove the hand. Zoro snickers. He then continues to take turns in between licks and kisses, enjoying the way the blond shudders every single time it comes into contact.

Until they are sure that nobody is in the room, the idiot drops his hand, wiping his palm on the swordsman’s shirt.

“Ugh. Disgusting! You freaking neanderthal”, he whispers. 

Zoro takes this chance to grab at his arm, turning the idiot to face him. “Stop changing the subject and answer me. Who did this to you?”

He glances behind, appearing to see the face of newcomer in the infirmary room. Then he turns back to Zoro and nods at him. 

“Ok, I will tell you. But first, help me take care of the guard outside.”

///

Reiju wakes up to see a sword pointing at her. Following the weapon, she is met with a very familiar scowling face. 

“Isn’t this Roronoa Zoro the Pirate Hunter of the Straw Hat? This is not a very nice way to wake somebody up, not to mention a lady.”

“Shut up”, Zoro barks, “As long as I’m concerned, you are one of the Vinsmoke, thus make you an enemy.”

“Stop it you freaking algae for hair!”, Sanji quickly steps in between Zoro’s sword and Reiju. “Put that down! Be respectful to my sister!”

“It depends. She is a Vinsmoke though.” Zoro unwillingly tugs his sword away. He lifts his chin and signals for Reiju to turn her gaze to Sanji. “Did you do this?”

“I told you it’s not her! Why do you still ask?”

“Because you will repeat your own speech of ‘Nothing happens’ and tell nothing about real shit happening to you. And I want the truth.”

Watching her brother bickering with his friend, Reiju feels amused. Since when is her crying baby having his own standing and becoming lively and joyful like this? Nostalgia slowly floods through her, making her giggles when she recalls of rare occasion of happy Sanji. 

“Stop it woman. Now answer my question.”

“MARIMO!”

Reiju raises a hand and both of them immediately shut up.

“First of all, where am I? What happened?”

“I will tell you. But first, tell me what you remembered.”

After Reiju tells her story, with pretty much a calmer Zoro sitting on a chair as far as possible to her bed, but staying very close to Sanji, the blond-haired prince takes a drag and looks at her.

“I’m telling both of you about what truly, really happens to Reiju”, a single side eye from him successfully shutting down any protest is about to leave Zoro’s lips.

He then tells them about Big Mom’s true plan behind the wedding: their assassination plot behind the so-called alliance, luring Germa 66 in a trap like naive cattles. And Reiju believes him immediately; there is no reason not to. 

Zoro stands up, pacing back and forth like an impatient beast walking in its cage. 

“I don’t understand”, the siblings shift their gaze to him. “Why did that king dude want you when he already has three sons? And even her. He can have this alliance anytime he wants but why must it have to be you?”. No contact after years and suddenly the reunion is a wedding?

“Because I’m…”, Zoro stops his pacing and turns to look at the cook, who becomes quiet, wearing a defeated posture on the bench. 

“Because he’s discardable”, Reiju’s soft voice feels like needles picking on his skin. 

“WHAT?”, Zoro hisses and growls, moving closer to the bed. However, he is stopped by the blond, gripping his shoulder and tells him to walk away. 

Both Reiju and Zoro ignore the cook’s whining. The royal princess staring straight at Zoro, telling him about the horrible childhood that they suffered under Judge’s thumb. She talks about her helpless self and surrendering to the king’s commander, but most of all, she talks about all the torturing Sanji had been through. 

The more Zoro hears, the more his head spinning in furious pain. He wants to cut down all those fuckers that couldn’t be called ‘family’, or even better, slashes them into pieces, making them suffer as much as possible. His growls stun the cook, making him take a few steps back. 

“Please stop, Reiju… He doesn– They don't need to know about all of this.”

“Why not, Curly? This is a big deal!”

“BECAUSE!”, Sanji glares at Zoro. Angry fat tears running down on his cheeks. “Because I can’t tell my partner how weak and pathetic I was in the past. I want to be the strong, capable and useful Sanji, not the crying useless and too weak Sanji! Ok? There! That’s my reason! Now you and the whole crew knows about it, I betrayed Luffy, so I can’t come back anymore! I can’t help you and it's not even worth your time. This is my own thing to deal with! So now you know, get the fuck out of here!”

Sanji flops down in defeat. His fists are full of hair and starts pulling with muffled hiccups and whimpers. “This… my face… Yes, this is the proof. The kind of treatment I get from my family… the kind that drove me away from there 13 years ago… and the kind that made me where I am now…”

“Sanji…”, his sister let out a rare clue of emotions. “Please… just leave. Your friends are here. Leave with them.”

“But… what about you? And…”, the cook raised both of his hands, showing the golden bracelets on each of his wrists. Now that Zoro sees them, they look really new and not suitable for the cook, since his hands are what he treasure the most and those things look highly uncomfortable for cooking.

“There is nothing you can do to stop the assassination, Sanji. And I think it’s better this way. I would rather for Germa to end this way than prolonging its legacy”, she gives him a weak smile. “About that, you don’t need to worry. They are fake. You can leave the island without triggering them to explode.”

“WHAT?”, again, he hisses, sending the siblings a warning for his upcoming rants. “What the fuck did you just say? Am I understanding correctly that those things are meant to cut his hands off?”

“More like… blow off”, Reiju calmly explains how they work. Not that Zoro wants to hear, and even worse when she was the one put that one. And the mask to hide Sanji’s bruises. The fact that she realised it and swapped them doesn’t soothe Zoro. As a matter of fact, Sanji has lived in fear of losing his hands for past hours and they are also the thing holding him down from leaving. Zoro growls.

He sheaths his sword once again and approaches Reiju with what look like foams forming at the corner of his lips. Sanji quickly jumps in between them, spreading his arms to shield his sister behind. 

“Stop! Marimo! She helped me–”

A clunk sound, then another one. Sanji follows Zoro’s movement, seeing the abomination handcuff falling down to the floor. 

“I am really grateful for what you did in the past for him”, Zoro says; veins popping on his head and some on his neck suggest that he isn’t as calm as he sounds. “But for sending him into crisis and anxiety with those handcuffs and this fucking mask, I can’t forgive you. However, you are Curly’s sister and he wishes you no harm, so I will follow it thoroughly.”

“And for you”, he turns to the cook, who is examining his hands. Two purple rings slowly showed up on his wrists. Zoro gently grabs them and pulls the cook closer to him. “Listen to your sister and get out of here. With us.”

“I–”, he hiccups and shifts his gaze to his sister. 

“I understand, Sanji. But I would rather end with Germa than running away. There is no place for me out there and blood on my hands is too much to bear now.”

“No! I don’t want you to die! If you stay I stay!”

Reiju denies any of Sanji’s suggestions. She then proceeds to tell him about why he’s the most precious one out of all five, the truth about his kindness and their mother’s wish. 

“Do not dimiss our mother’s wish because they call you weak, Sanji. And don't blame yourself. You are who you are because that’s what Mother has always wanted. Do not change that and don’t even think about ending here with us.”

///

Leaving the infirmary with the ruined lunch portion, they hold hands and walk on a wide road leading to the rendezvous spot. 

“Do you think Luffy is still there?”, in between the sound of the rain pouring down, Zoro still hears Sanji’s anxiousness clearly. 

“I’m sure he will. You know how stubborn he is”, the swordsman shrugs his shoulders.

“Look, I’m… I’m sor–.”

“No”

“What?”

“Whatever you want to say as a member of the crew, say it to Luffy. His decision is mine, too”. Zoro then pulls the cook closer to him. “As your partner, after knowing what you've been through. No fuck it, even if I don’t know about it, I would understand. You just did what you had to to protect your old man and his crew.”

He leans down to plant a kiss on the wrist of the hand that he’s holding, gently above the purple ring which has freshly formed. 

“After dealing with this”, the cook says suddenly. “Will you hear me out?”

Instead of replying, Zoro squeezes his hand. 

///

Too bad Zoro doesn’t have a chance to stab or make those bastards severely wounded before they leave Big Mom’s territory. 

Especially when that fucking helmet dedicates a freaking speech about his son, who has just saved his ass more than once and perfectly fine, while the man himself having heavily bandage on his face. Big mouth for a really sore loser. 

“Why is he listing all of your good things, Sanji?”, Luffy, spreading his arms and legs lying on the deck, cranes his neck and asks the cook. 

“It’s not what he means!”, Sanji impatiently says. 

At that moment, Zoro does the only thing he can come up with to give the bastard a big ‘fuck you’.

Zoro pulls the cook away from their crew but still in the bastard's sight. He sneaks his arms around the cook’s waist, pulling him into a hug, and kisses him right there, in front of the Germa’s king and his forces.

And not just any kiss like a peck on the lips. Zoro swallows any protests and whining Sanji let out, eagerly leading his tongue in to explore and once again claim the cook his. 

The blond replies enthusiastically. His arms come around Zoro’s neck, pressing him closer and returning his kisses, pouring in all his love and desire that have been suppressed for too long. 

They keep it on going until Germa's ship and Big Mom’s territory completely disappear. Sanji breaks the kiss first, gasping for air. Zoro leans in until their forehead touches.

"Zoro. I'm have been so dumb. I'm really sorry for hurting you with this"

"It's ok, Cook. I would rather listen to other thing than a sorry."

Sanji chuckles. "You stupid Mosshead". He leans closer and whispers into the swordsman's ear. It's so good, cause Zoro's grip around the cook's waist tightens, pressing him closer until he let out a satisfying sigh. 

“What I need from you now is to get your things straight in that head of yours. Stop doing things like this. Repeat it once more, I will beat you up so bad and make you admit I’m better than you, ok?”

“Hah! As if you can ever win”, Sanji chuckles. 

Zoro grins. He pulls the cook into another kiss, feeling him melting against him. 

“Now then, Marimo”, Sanji tilts his head, licking his lips in the way that he knows for sure provoking the swordsman. “I have a duty waiting for me”. He then lets go of Zoro’s shoulder, dropping his relaxed expression and goes to where their captain is lying. Unlike his confidence in front of Zoro, Sanji becomes shy and awkward, rubbing his hand on his neck and timidly asking whether he can cook for them. 

Seeing the whole crew cheering and following Sanji to the kitchen, Zoro chuckles. After the ordeal they have just been through, something has definitely changed. Like, now that all the past has been laid out, there is no reason for the cook to put on the brave mask. Or how Zoro could feel their bond become stronger. Or even the possibility that now the whole world will know the (self-proclaimed) hottest bachelor, turns out to have a lover already. 

But something stays the same for Zoro. Like the fact that Sanji is and always the Straw Hat’s cook. Like his love for the cook after all stupid things he had been put through. Like the way the Cook whisper his feeling for him.

Like their kisses always feel like the first time.