Adventurous Together

Zoro roused from unconsciousness with a roaring headache and the taste of something dead in his mouth. He grimaced. What the hell happened? He lifted his hand, intending to press his fingers against his forehead, and the other hand came with it. He realized immediately that he was in handcuffs. 

He cracked open an eye. Above him, he saw a damp stone ceiling with lichen growing across it. He heard a scratching sound nearby and turned his aching head in that direction. A rat, startled by his movement, scurried through a barred door. Shit. He was in a cell of some sort, apparently underground or on the coast judging by the moisture. He reflexively checked for his katanas, but of course they were gone. He wore his trousers and boots, though his shirt was missing.

Zoro took stock of himself. Seastone cuffs encircled both his wrists, trapping them together in front of him. He had a headache and a rotten taste in his mouth, but no other bruises or injuries that he could ascertain. He was lying on a raised, hard pallet in a cell. The cell seemed to be cut out of a cave or something similar. There were no windows, only the barred door. He had no idea how he got there or how long he’d been out.

Casting his mind back, Zoro pieced together the last things he remembered. The Thousand Sunny had docked at Coralhaven Isle late in the afternoon. Coralhaven Isle was part of the Azure Shoals chain, a series of small islands circling around immaculate blue water and coral reefs. The other islands in the chain appeared unpopulated, though Usopp had mentioned seeing the nose of a pier partially hidden off a more rocky isle. Coralhaven’s harbor was wide with a single, large dock for big ships. 

The Isle itself was a lush, sun-drenched island with white sandy beaches, crystal lagoons, and access to the beautiful coral reefs. Homes and businesses were built from wood and clay and decorated with shells. The central village was a sleepy fishing community of overly friendly and welcoming locals. Coralhaven was run by Governor Isadora Cortez, who had an expansive villa on a rise overlooking the village.

There had been no other ships in the harbor when the Sunny had docked. Azure Shoals was between the log pose routes and sailors had to be on watch to find it. Usopp had spotted the speck of the island chain while fishing off the rail with Chopper, Luffy, and Brook. The sniper’s eyesight was phenomenal even when not wearing his sniping goggles. 

The crew had separated upon disembarking, heading off to explore. Zoro had made a beeline for the nearest tavern, which had been within sight of the dock. There, he’d plunked himself on a barstool and nursed several beers. A woman had hit on him, who he’d rebuffed, and then came the slender man with brown hair down to his shoulders who he didn’t rebuff. He’d gone home with the guy – what was his name? Michael? Miguel? Michelle? That was it, Michelle, with a Mee. Zoro had fucked him a couple times, drank the water Michelle had given him, took a shower, and then… nothing. 

It didn’t take a genius intellect for Zoro to figure out that the water had been drugged. He didn’t recall putting on his trousers and boots before passing out, but he must have, since he was wearing them, unless Michelle had dressed him. Now, he was in a cell for who knows what reason. His bounty, maybe? There was always a risk in bedding strangers. He’d fucked a few marines who tried to capture him over the years. No one had ever drugged him after sex, though. A quick check determined that, while his dick was pinned up under his beltline rather than hanging where he usually tucked it, it didn’t appear that he’d been fucked while was out. That was, at least, a relief. 

Zoro pushed himself into a sitting position, wincing as the movement made his head throb. Headache or not, he wasn’t going to wait around. He needed to get out of the cell, find his katanas, and escape whatever prison or holding area he was in. It would be nice to know how much time had passed since he’d been knocked out. An hour? Two? More?

Voices drifted to his ears, coming from outside the cell. One familiar, singing off key, the other a gruff, annoyed one. Zoro looked over at the cell door as two figures appeared in the lighted corridor: a tough-looking man with a shaved skull holding a pistol, and Sanji, who was wobbling unsteadily and wearing no trousers or shoes.

Zoro got to his feet quickly. “Nuh-uh, you green slut,” the man aimed the pistol through the bars at Zoro. “Sit back down.”

Zoro clenched his fists. He could charge the guy when the cell door opened, get shot, and still win, but Sanji looked too out of it to render any aid to Zoro if necessary. Better to wait until they guy had left to make their escape. He sat down on the pallet again.

The man opened the cell door and shoved Sanji inside. “In you go, lover boy.”

Sanji staggered and almost fell. His hands were cuffed in front of him, as well. He caught himself and spun on his bare heel. “There’s no need to be rude! I’m perfectly capable of walking by myself.”

The man slammed the cell door shut, smirked at the two of them, then walked away.

Zoro jumped to his feet, ignoring the roaring pain in his skull, to rush over to Sanji. “Cook, are you okay?” Sanji’s back was still to him and he ran his gaze over Sanji’s body. Sanji wore a dark brown button-down, long-sleeved shirt open at the collar, and nothing else. The tail of the shirt barely covered his ass. Zoro could see semen splattered on the material. His mind went to a very bad place and he was quick to lift the material and spread Sanji’s asscheeks. Sanji’s hole was bright red and swollen and cum was leaking out of his ass. 

“Hey! Hands in good places.” Sanji turned swiftly, swayed unsteadily as if drunk, and smiled widely when his blown-out pupils lit on Zoro. “Marimo! What are you doing here?”

“Never mind that.” Zoro felt rage clawing at his gut. “Did they rape you?”

“Huh?” Sanji blinked slowly, then tried to look at his own ass. He spun around comically, like a dog chasing its tail. Zoro caught him as he began to fall over. “Woah, dizzy.”

“Answer me, cook,” Zoro demanded, holding onto one of Sanji’s shoulders with both cuffed hands. “What happened? Did they rape you?”

“Rape? What? No.” Sanji’s smile went lazy and well-satisfied. “I was with the Pietro brothers.”

Zoro frowned, somewhat bewildered, his rage starting to cool. “Consensual?” he needed to confirm.

“Uh-huh.” Sanji’s eyes grew hazy. “So many penises. It was fantastic.”

Zoro stared at Sanji as his brain caught on to what Sanji was saying. “Wait, you had sex with multiple men? Voluntarily?”

“Hmm, yeah.” Sanji’s smile turned sinful. “Don’t tell anyone, but I’m very gay sometimes.”

Zoro’s jaw dropped. Sanji was gay? Sometimes, he’d clarified, but still. Sanji was gay? “You’re gay?”

“Uh-huh.” Sanji stretched his arms above his head, cuffs and all, causing the shirt to ride up in front, exposing him to Zoro’s view. Zoro found himself looking and jerked his gaze away. “Women are beautiful to look at, but they can’t fuck me up the ass.”

Zoro had met several women who would contradict that statement, but he knew Sanji thought all women were delicate flowers, even the ones who beat him to a pulp. “Are you drunk?” Zoro asked. He sounded drunk. Maybe Sanji needed to get wasted before letting men fuck him. 

“No.” Sanji frowned and swayed. “At least, I don’t think so. I don’t remember having anything to drink. Except after that blue-haired guy came in and said that they could find someone who liked ‘em little. Thought that he wanted to join in, but he left and came back with some fruit juice for everyone. I did drink that.” Sanji paused, tilting his head in thought. “I think the blue-haired guy took pictures.”

“Your drink must’ve been drugged,” Zoro surmised. A different one than Zoro’s, maybe, considering Sanji was lucid and mobile, but still drugged. It explained why he was acting drunk and amenable to Zoro’s questions. “That’s how they got me.”

“Hn. Too bad. I wouldn’t have minded having all the brothers get a second round.” Sanji sighed dejectedly. 

Zoro almost asked how many brothers there were, but decided for his sanity’s sake to bite his tongue. He was still trying to wrap his head around the fact that Sanji – woman-crazy, nose-bleeding Sanji – liked taking it up the ass from men. 

Sanji looked around them. “Where are we?”

“A cell of some sort,” Zoro replied, going to sit back down. Now that he knew Sanji hadn’t been hurt, his headache came roaring back to the forefront of his brain. He shut his eye and rubbed his forehead with both hands. They still needed to get out of there. Zoro had to assume that the shaved-skull guy would have the gun and was likely on guard. There might be more armed guards, as well. Getting shot would suck, but if they were careful, they might be able to escape unseen. Or at least take down any guards before they could shoot. 

Zoro’s eye flew open when he felt Sanji straddle his lap. “What the hell?” 

Sanji draped his arms over Zoro’s head, wearing a naughty grin. The seastone cuffs felt heavy against the nape of Zoro’s neck. “Hey there. Wanna fuck?” Sanji said as he ground his ass down on Zoro’s lap. 

Zoro choked on his tongue. 

Sanji leaned in and burrowed his nose against Zoro’s neck. He licked a small strip and inhaled deeply. “You smell like cedar. We don’t have cedar soap.” He purred against Zoro’s neck. “Have you been using other people’s showers?”

“Uh, yeah.” Zoro put his hands on Sanji’s chest, intending to push him off. He’d thought Sanji could barely stand him and now he wanted to fuck?

“Did you fuck whomever’s shower you used?” Sanji ground down on Zoro’s lap again. Zoro could feel Sanji’s erection poking against his bare belly. “I’d always thought you’d fuck me at the end of one of our fights, but you’ve never made a move. Now, we can finally fix that.”

Arousal tightened Zoro’s groin. He had imagined fucking Sanji after some their fights, pinning him in the lawn or against a rail and screwing Sanji’s brains out. He was gay and Sanji was seriously hot, especially after they’d gotten worked up while fighting. To learn that Sanji had been thinking the same thing – wanting for it to happen – made Zoro kick himself for not going for it eons ago, whether they liked each other or not.

But not the time, not the place, not a sober Sanji. Considering he hadn’t even known Sanji liked men that way until now meant that Sanji wanted to keep it private and would be mortified that Zoro found out like this. Besides which, there was that whole animosity-thing that defined their relationship. Zoro pushed Sanji off his lap, stood, and nudged Sanji onto the pallet instead. He ducked his head out from beneath Sanji’s arms, Sanji’s cuffs catching against his hair. “Tell me that you’re sometimes gay when you’re not drugged out of your mind and I’ll probably fuck you until you can no longer walk.”

Sanji leaned back on his elbows, braced against the pallet, his cuffed hands against his stomach. His brown shirt framed his erection, poking from between the plackets. He pouted at Zoro, looking like sin waiting to happen. “You sure?”

A strangled sound escaped Zoro’s throat. “I’m sure,” he croaked and hurried to the other side of the cell. 

Sanji huffed. “Guess I’ll have to take care of myself then,” he said, before wrapping his fingers around his hard shaft.

Zoro spun to face the barred door. Now would be a great time to break the bars and leave. Zoro hummed under his breath to hide the sounds of Sanji jerking off behind him. Although Sanji wasn’t making any noise, which was weird. Zoro thought he’d be making sounds of pleasure, or at least breathing heavily. A quick glance over his shoulder showed that Sanji was still masturbating almost mechanically, his eyes focused on some distant point. 

Zoro turned away again, forced his mind from Sanji, and examined the bars. Seastone, like his cuffs. He wouldn’t be able to break them. They were set into the rock of whatever cave-like structure they were in. That stone he could break using No Sword Style, even with the cuffs. 

Voices drifted down the corridor again. Zoro backed away from the bars, putting himself between Sanji and the door. “Stop touching yourself,” Zoro hissed, not looking over his shoulder. “People are coming.”

“I want to be coming,” Sanji grumbled, but sighed. “Fine.”

“Don’t move,” Zoro warned him before turning his attention to the conversation.

“What’s the progress of the others?” A woman was saying as their voices became clearer.

“Marte is on her way with the redhead. Renald is with the other woman at his place, so it shouldn’t be long now.” It sounded like the shaved-scalp guy talking. “The others on the crew rebuffed any advances and seemed to be sticking in groups of two or three. We’ll have to wait and see if we can get them with breakfast.”

Zoro felt his stomach clench. They had to be talking about the rest of the Straw Hats. It sounded like they already captured Nami. 

“Good.” The woman came into view in front of the cell. She was tall, with a long, black ponytail, island-tanned skin, and a scar curving along her left cheek. She was dressed in black trousers and a low-cut, flowing white shirt with a green sash around her waist. She stopped in front of the door. Shaved-scalp guy was, indeed, with her, holding his pistol at the ready. 

Zoro held his tongue and his desire to attack. He couldn’t escape now, not until Nami was brought here. Robin, too, it sounded like. At least Sanji was quiet and still at the moment.

The woman raked her cold, black eyes over Zoro from head to toe. “You have pictures, I trust.”

“Yeah. Of both of them. Marte is bringing hers,” the lackey said.

Zoro’s skin crawled. Michelle had taken pictures of him while he was unconscious. That was why his dick was in the wrong place in his trousers.

The woman’s eyes flicked around the cell. “You said you had two. Where’s the other one?”

“He’s in there.” The lackey raised his voice. “Oi, lover boy. Come and greet a lady, why don’t you?”

It was the exact thing to say to get Sanji moving. Sanji popped off the pallet and danced around Zoro. “Of course I shall greet a lady!” He spotted the woman outside of the cell door and swanned into his usual heart-eyed bullshit. “And what a beautiful lady you are! I am awed by your presence and loveliness. Allow me to say what a stunning shirt you have covering your breasts.” Sanji’s nose began to gush blood.

The woman’s lip curled in distaste. She raked her eyes over Sanji as she had Zoro. Sanji was still erect, peeking out from beneath the hem of his shirt. “He’s going to be a hard sell. Look at that thing.”

Zoro grabbed Sanji by the shoulder, shoving him behind Zoro. Zoro bared his teeth at the woman, but the woman had already turned to the lackey. “We may have to cut our losses with him.”

“He let the Pietro brothers fuck him, sober,” the lackey said.

The woman appeared surprised. “All of them?”

The lackey nodded. “Wasn’t even walking funny, either.”

“Hm.” The woman glanced back through the bars. “I guess we could advertise him as a party favor. Play up the tiny dick as a novelty.”

Zoro’s fingernails dug into his palms. They’d been captured by sex slavers. He was going to be sick.

“If he doesn’t sell, you could always collect the bounty,” the lackey suggested.

The woman shook her head. “I’d rather take a loss than have the marines decide they’d collect our bounties, too. We get enough money from the sales to live comfortably. Let’s not be greedy.”

“You’re the boss,” the lackey said. He gestured to the cell. “Should I put them out?”

“Yes.” The woman glanced at Zoro again. “They are the crew of an Emperor, after all. Wouldn’t want them to escape.”

The lackey aimed the pistol into the cell, but at the floor, rather than at Zoro. The lackey fired. The round bullet impacted on the rock floor and exploded in a cloud of blue gas. Zoro coughed as he inadvertently inhaled. The room started to spin almost immediately. 

“Oh, look, colors!” Sanji said before he crashed into Zoro. They both went down hard. 

Zoro’s last conscious action was to drag Sanji protectively close to him before everything went dark. 

Zoro roused to consciousness for a second time to an even worse headache and a deader thing in his mouth. Fuck. Whatever was in that gas was brutal. He’d lasted less than thirty seconds. They would have to keep tabs on that or escape would be cut very short.

He heard a small crumbling sound and pried open his eye. He was lying on the ground, facing the cell door. A completely naked Sanji was kicking at the wall beside the door, making it crumble a small amount at a time. Fuck, did they use Sanji and bring him back while Zoro was out?

Zoro must’ve made a noise, because Sanji glanced over his shoulder at him. Blood stained his upper lip from his prior nosebleed. “Good, you’re awake. As soon as I break this wall open, you take Robin-chan and I’ll take Nami-san.”

Sanji sounded sober and serious, with an underlying edge of rage. Zoro pushed up to his feet and looked around the cell. Robin was lying on the floor, unconscious but completely dressed, seastone cuffs around her wrists. Nami was unconscious on the pallet, wearing Sanji’s buttoned shirt, encasing her arms as well as her body. That meant she’d been brought in naked or close to it and was also wearing cuffs. Shit. 

“Why don’t you just bust through quickly?” Zoro said, feeling his own rage begin to boil again. 

“They might hear,” Sanji told him, seemingly unconcerned about his nudity. “I don’t know how we got captured, but to have all four of us be unconscious can’t be good.”

“You don’t remember?” Zoro asked, going to check on Robin. She was breathing fine, seemingly in a deep sleep. She likely was given whatever Zoro had been given by Michelle. 

“Hn. Last thing I recall was enjoying myself with… someone I met, and then I’m here,” Sanji said, and Zoro noted that plural became single and lost a gender. “Without trousers or shoes for some reason.” 

“They spiked our drinks,” Zoro told him, checking on Nami next. He was sure Sanji did it when he woke up, but Zoro wanted to reassure himself they were both okay, even if they were unconscious. “They’re sex slavers. A pirate crew, likely. The woman in charge said they had bounties.”

Sanji grunted and kicked the wall again, causing more of it to crumble. “Fuckers.”

“Yeah.” Zoro fixed the collar of Sanji’s shirt on Nami, a deep frown on his face. “They have plans to get the rest of the crew at breakfast, whenever that is.”

“Then we’ll have to get out of here before that time.” Sanji aimed another kick and a small hole appeared in the wall. “Give me another five minutes and I’ll have us free.”

“We need to be careful of their pistols. At least, the one in possession of the lackey with the shaved skull. It shot a knockout gas bullet.”

“Lovely,” Sanji said sarcastically.

It would have been easier if it were only the two of them. Zoro wasn’t going to stop to search for his swords, not with Robin and Nami in danger. He would have to locate them later, once they razed this island to the ground. 

As predicted, Sanji had the hole wide enough for them to escape within five minutes. Sanji ducked into the lighted corridor outside the cell. “I’m going to scout around, see if I can find an easy way out of here, wherever here is. Wait in the cell until I get back.”

Zoro eyed Sanji’s nakedness through the bars. “Do you want to borrow my pants?”

“The twelve I sense won’t even see me,” Sanji said with a smirk before sauntering off.

Zoro extended his observation haki, trying to sense the twelve enemies he’d mentioned. Zoro could only find nine. Observation haki was his weakest area. Zoro tried to track Sanji, but it was nearly impossible. Sanji moved too fast. Every time Zoro thought he’d found Sanji, Sanji would vanish. At least Zoro didn’t need to worry about him being caught. 

Neither of the girls’ stirred while Sanji was gone. When Sanji blinked into existence outside of the cell, Zoro startled. Sanji smirked at his reaction, but didn’t comment on it. “We’re in a cave system on a rocky island. Dawn’s just starting. We have about an hour until the sun’s up. There’s a path carved into the side from the entrance that leads down to a pier. There’s a single small boat moored there.”

“What about the twelve?” Zoro asked.

“Damn.”

Sanji glanced past Zoro at the girls. “We have two choices. We can try to take those eleven out or jump from an unguarded opening in the rock into the sea and swim for the boat. Tide’s still up and the water’s calm, so we won’t be bashed against the shore if we jump. Long way to swim, though. It’s on the other side of the island.” Sanji didn’t comment on the fact they’d be swimming in cuffs while towing unconscious nakama because it wouldn’t be an issue for either of them. They’d have to come back with the others for the cuff keys.

Zoro debated. Eleven were easily manageable, especially if seven were asleep. Still, he didn’t want Nami or Robin to become victims to their hubris. “Can you take them out yourself?”

Sanji grinned and tapped his bare toe on the ground. His entire right calf and foot engulfed itself in red flames. “I think I can manage.”

Zoro was suddenly, insanely aroused. More than when Sanji had ground himself on Zoro’s lap. Sanji stood on the other side of the bars, a cocky expression on his face. Naked, his sculpted physique was on full display. Fighting half his time balanced on his hands had given him well-defined pecs, abs, and strong biceps. His quads were seriously cut, matching his powerful calves. His junk rested proudly in a nest of darker blond curls. The flames enhanced the stunning sight. The cuffs only served to add a dangerous air to him.

The material of Zoro’s trousers started to tent. Luckily, his hands were cuffed in front of his groin. He cleared his throat. “If you’re not back in ten, I’ll take the girls and go. Or if I sense that you went down.”

Sanji nodded, not dismissing Zoro’s concern. “I’ll leave a few soot marks for you to follow to the jump point.” 

“Don’t show off,” Zoro told him. This wasn’t the time for one of their competitions. 

“I won’t,” Sanji promised, and vanished. 

Zoro stepped through the opening in the cell wall into the lighted corridor. The cave tunnel ran in both directions. Zoro saw a blackened bare footprint at one end of the corridor, which wound upward. The opposite direction ran down, further into the rocky peak. Zoro pictured the islands of Azure Shoals and only one of them was a rocky isle. Usopp had pointed it out when the Sunny had sailed toward Coralhaven harbor. He’d also pointed out the dock. That must be where they were being held, away from the main island and with easy access to a dock, likely where they loaded their captured slaves.

Zoro’s expression darkened. How many crews had been captured and sold off by that woman and her crew? Slavery was prevalent on the Grand Line, especially the New World. Azure Shoals hadn’t been labeled on Nami’s map, which was why they’d stopped. Other ships, both pirate crews and others, likely spotted the island chain the same as they had and opted to explore. Coralhaven was disguised as a fishing village. Zoro had seen no evidence that there was an underground slave trade. He had no idea how many of the townspeople were involved. The slavers had the option to pick and choose which crews they wanted to capture based on size or notoriety. Luffy was an Emperor, but he only ran with a crew of ten. Drugging them all wouldn’t be difficult, as evidenced by four of them already being captured, and the seastone cuffs and knockout gas would hamper their abilities. 

But they’d underestimated the Straw Hat’s diversity of fighters. Sanji wasn’t a Devil Fruit user and his weapons were his legs. Out of all of them, he was the only one completely unhindered by the seastone cuffs. He could still flip and spin on his hands even with them cuffed together. His armament haki and flaming leg gave him an advantage, and if he shifted into Ifrit Jambe, he’d be even more powerful. His speed meant he could take out the slavers before they knew what was happening. As long as there wasn’t a Devil Fruit user up there, or one didn’t get a lucky gas-pistol off, Sanji should win.

Zoro mentally counted down the seconds until ten minutes would be up. Sanji returned in seven. “Took you long enough,” Zoro said when Sanji sauntered down the corridor toward him. He saw that Sanji was no longer handcuffed and wearing an oversized t-shirt and trousers rolled at the hem. 

“Had to find the key, dumbass.” Sanji walked over to him and unlocked the cuffs. “Also found this.” He pulled a small notebook out of the pocket of his stolen trousers. “It lists the arrival dates and times of slave ships.”

Zoro rubbed his wrists where the cuffs had dug into them. He had red abrasions marring his skin. “Does it list any names of those taken?”

“No. It’s not a sales ledger. The woman you said was in charge likely has it wherever she conducts business.” Sanji tucked the notebook away and stepped back through the hole in the wall into the cell. He quickly unlocked both Robin and Nami’s cuffs. 

Zoro went into the cell behind him. He picked up Robin. “I think we should round up all the slavers on this island and leave them for the ship to pick up.” He really wanted to kill them all, but enslaving them instead would be great retribution.

Sanji chuckled. “A cruel punishment. I like it. Luffy may not agree.”

“True.” Zoro followed Sanji, who carried Nami, back out of the cell. “He’s too soft for an Emperor.”

“You can say that to his face.” 

“I have. He thought I was being funny.” 

“Heh.” Sanji led the way through a winding cave tunnel system within the rocky peak. They passed the guard who was unconscious near the cells, then four more charred guards who’d been playing cards in a side area. Zoro didn’t see where the bunk room was as they made their way to the entrance. 

The cave let out about partway up the rocky peak. A switchback path carved down the rocks to the pier below. The sky was getting lighter as sunrise approached. The weather was balmy, even at that hour. Zoro and Sanji made their way down to the small single-masted catboat tied to the dock. It was meant for running between the islands, not taken out to sea. 

Zoro set Robin down gently on one of the bench seats and Sanji settled Nami sitting up against the shallow hull. He’d threaded her arms through the shirt that she wore after releasing her from the cuffs. Sanji might go silly over their female crewmates at times, but Zoro knew he would never perv on either of them when they were down. 

Zoro raised the sail and Sanji cast off before taking the tiller. Sanji tacked around the rocky isle and into the central lagoon. It didn’t take them long to cut across the water to Coralhaven Island. Sanji brought the catboat alongside the Sunny at the dock. He quickly tied off and the two of them picked up the girls and carried them onto the Sunny.

They brought both girls to their quarters, lying them in their own beds. “I’ll get Chopper,” Sanji said, and Zoro nodded, though he figured they’d been given similar knockout drugs to his own. 

After brushing his teeth, Zoro went down to the hold while Sanji headed for the men’s quarters. Zoro picked out three decent swords from the collection they’d taken from various marines and pirates they’d fought at sea. They would do until he got his own back. Maybe his katanas were still at Michelle’s. If not, the woman in charge had to know where they were. They would be somewhere on the island.

Sanji crossed his path when he got back on deck, carrying a change of clothes. “Chopper wants to talk to you. After I clean up, I’ll start breakfast. Will you get the others up in about half an hour? We should tell them what’s going on before it’s noticed that we’re missing.”

“Okay,” Zoro agreed, though his mind immediately went to the reason why Sanji needed to clean up. It made Zoro a little horny and a lot impressed by Sanji’s prowess. Sanji had known what he wanted and had taken it. That took confidence and a comfort in himself and his sexuality. 

Zoro was also surprisingly somewhat saddened that Sanji kept that part of his life hidden from the crew. Then again, Sanji had hidden a lot of things from them, including the fact that he was a Prince from the warmongering Germa Kingdom, who’d once conquered the four Kings of the North Blue. Zoro knew there was a lot more going on about that than what he knew on the surface, but Sanji hadn’t shared it after returning from Totto Land. For all his kindness and caring about other people’s thoughts and feelings, he was very reserved about himself. 

Zoro headed back to the girls’ quarters. The second deck cabin held two beds, a nice sitting area, a double wardrobe, and a dressing table. A sink with a standing cabinet behind it was near the door to the main deck. Chopper was sitting on one of the chairs, making notes in his medical log that he used to keep record of all the injuries and illnesses of the crew. The little reindeer doctor looked up when Zoro entered. Nami and Robin remained asleep.

“The cook said you wanted to talk to me?” Zoro took the seat across from him. He didn’t bother keeping his voice down, as the girls were drugged and not sleeping.

“Yes.” Chopper flipped a page back in his notebook. “Sanji told me you think you both had spiked drinks?”

“Yeah. My memories blank out about ten minutes after I was given a drink of water. The cook told me he was given fruit juice. He was acting drunk, but was still conscious and lucid.”

Chopper nodded. “He has a different metabolism than other humans now. I still don’t have a baseline for him, but it’s likely he processed the drug differently. Based on the fact that he also doesn’t remember anything from a certain point on, I’m guessing it was the same drug. Do you know how long you were out?”

“No.”

“I need to ask, do you think you were sexually assaulted while you were out?” 

Zoro had the same thought, back in the cell. He shook his head. “Didn’t appear to be.”

Chopper scribbled something down. “Do you think Sanji was? He couldn’t remember.”

“Not from what he told me,” Zoro said. “It sounded consensual. ”

“Hm.” Chopper wrote another note. “I’ll talk to him about it again. Anything else you can tell me?” He motioned to Nami and Robin. “I need to know as much as possible to be able to help them.”

Zoro rubbed the back of his neck. Some things were embarrassing to talk to Chopper about. “The guy I had sex with was the one who drugged me.”

Chopper frowned. “That’s not very nice.”

Zoro chuckled at that. “No. They also took nude or semi-nude photos of myself and the cook.”

“Why would they do that?”

“Sex slavers.” The words left a bad taste in Zoro’s mouth. “I wouldn’t be surprised if they did the same to Nami and Robin.”

Chopper scowled. “The jerks.”

“Yeah.” Zoro tried to think of anything else that would be helpful. “The cook and I also got knocked out by a blue gas bullet. I was out longer than him.”

“It sounds like one of Usopp’s sleeping stars.” Chopper made another note. “Thank you, Zoro. I don’t have any other questions for now.”

Zoro got up. “The cook’s gathering everyone for breakfast in about twenty-five more minutes, to talk about the slavers. Are you going to come?”

“I think I’ll wait with Nami and Robin until they’re both awake and I have a chance to check them over,” Chopper said.

“Okay. I’ll let the cook know.” Zoro headed out to the main deck, stopped by the men’s quarters to change into a new pair of trousers, his green long-coat and dug a new bandana out, which he tied around his bicep, before heading back out to the deck to observe the innocuous-seeming fishing village. Somewhere on that island were his swords. He closed his eye, tried to use observation haki to see if he could locate them, but it didn’t work. He could tell some of the townspeople were starting to get up, though.

At the half hour mark, Zoro went to rouse his nakama, telling them to meet in the galley. Luffy was last to wake, and only after Zoro shouted the word “Food!” into his ear. 

The galley on the Thousand Sunny smelled like bacon. The room was divided in half by a bar with bench seating. Sanji’s kitchen was one one side, with a four-burner stovetop, a double oven, a large refrigerator, plenty of prep space and cabinet storage. The other half of the galley was used as a dining room, with a large table with eight chairs, a couch that ran along the wall from Chopper’s infirmary door to the door to the main deck, and a service elevator that ran down to the Aquarium Bar. A dry storage room was hidden behind the kitchen, next to the infirmary. 

Zoro took his seat at the table first and the rest of the men, aside from Chopper, filtered in. Sanji had already set out serving dishes of eggs, bacon, pancakes, and fried ham. Preferred drinks of cola, coffee, tea, juice, and milk were on the table. It always amazed Zoro how much Sanji could get done in a short amount of time.

“What’s going on, bros?” Franky asked first, grabbing a cola. He sat on the couch in speedos and a red floral shirt. Jinbe had taken the seat across from Zoro, with Brook beside him. Luffy and Usopp flanked Zoro on either side. Everyone had dug in, plating their food as quickly as possible before Luffy devoured it all.

“Sex slavers,” Sanji said bluntly, bringing another platter of bacon to the table and setting it near Luffy. Sanji was dressed in a full suit, with a double-breasted jacket, blue and black pinstripe shirt and tie. Full armor. 

Luffy stopped stuffing his face immediately, a dark look coming into his eye. “You sure?”

“We’re sure,” Zoro replied. 

Usopp noted the missing people at the table. “Where’s Nami, Robin, and Chopper?” His eyes widened in panic. “They didn’t get taken, did they?”

“No, they’re in the girls’ quarters,” Zoro reassured him. “But they got captured, like me and the cook. We escaped about an hour ago, more or less.”

“Do we know who the slavers are?” Brook asked.

“I took out twelve of them at that rocky isle Usopp pointed out when we first arrived,” Sanji said, speaking over the sizzle of ham frying on the stove. “That’s where we were being held. I got a log of the slave ship’s arrival and departure days and times to this island. Another one is due later this morning.”

“I have some of the names of those involved in town,” Zoro added to the conversation. “There’s also a woman with long black hair with a scar on her cheek who seems to be in charge.”

Jinbe and Brook exchanged looks. “The description sounds like the Governor,” Jinbe said.

“They might also be pirates,” Zoro said. “The woman, or Governor, said they had bounties and didn’t want to draw marine attention.”

“So how’s it work?” Franky asked. “How’d they get you, Sanji, and the girls?”

“Spiked our drinks,” Sanji answered, but refraining from saying under what circumstances.

“They were planning on getting everyone else at breakfast in town,” Zoro said. “Whatever they use knocks you out pretty quickly. Then, they lock you in seastone cuffs and move you to that rocky isle.” He didn’t mention that Sanji hadn’t been knocked out, as it wasn’t relevant.

“What should we do?” Usopp said.

“Get rid of them all,” Luffy replied firmly. “No one should have their freedom taken from them.”

“After breakfast, though,” Sanji said, bringing more food over to the table. “Eat up. Especially you, Luffy. We don’t need you tempted to eat something offered in the village and have you captured.”

Everyone started eating again, filling up on a quick but hearty meal. Plans were made on how to go about finding out who were slavers versus who were normal townsfolk. Zoro gave them the names of Michelle, Marte, and Renald. Sanji supplied the Pietro brothers’ names, and Zoro focused intently on his plate at the list of them and tried not to become aroused imagining what Sanji had been up to last night. Now was definitely not the time for sex-thoughts. 

“You also mentioned a blue-haired guy,” Zoro added. “Didn’t get a name, though.”

“Hn.” Sanji went back into the kitchen to cook more pancakes. Zoro noted that Sanji seemed wary. He probably wondered how much Zoro knew about his night with the Pietros.

As the rest of the meal went on, it was decided who would pair with whom on the slaver hunt. Zoro wanted to get his swords back, so he would team up with Franky to interrogate Michelle. Brook and Usopp would look into Marte and Renald. Jinbe would accompany Luffy and go after the Governor at the villa. Sanji indicated he’d go after the Pietro brothers alone. Zoro had no doubt the brothers would wish they’d never met Sanji. Zoro wasn’t planning on being too nice to Michelle, either.

Sanji stopped in to let Chopper know the plan while everyone else disembarked. Zoro had warned everyone about the possibility of pistols with sleeping gas bullets before they departed. 

Zoro fell into step beside Franky as the two of them left the dock and headed into the village. Zoro hadn’t paid attention to the buildings the evening before, but now he noticed that they had all been fishing shacks that had been added onto with clay and wood. Probably from using the money they’d gained from the slave trade. Zoro’s initial desire to raze the village to the ground returned.

“Do you know where you’re going, bro?” Franky asked. Sunrise had painted the white, sandy streets and clay houses in soft orange. 

“No,” Zoro admitted. “But I know the door to Michelle’s was painted purple and had the number thirty-two on it.”

Franky grinned. “That’ll work.”

It didn’t take them long to find number thirty-two, down two of the side roads off the main street from the dock. Zoro knocked politely on the door, loud enough to be heard but not to cause alarm. He had to knock three times due to the early hour before Michelle answered.

Zoro’s hand shot out the second he saw Michelle and clamped it around Michelle’s neck. The lanky brunet, wearing only green boxers, gasped and then struggled as Zoro cut off his air. Zoro lifted him right off the ground as he pushed his way into the house. Franky turned sideways, entered behind him, and shut the door. He positioned himself in front of it to prevent Michelle from fleeing in that direction.

Zoro squeezed Michelle’s throat tighter. Michelle clawed at his hand, kicking his feet in the air. “Where are my katanas?” Zoro growled at him. 

Michelle’s face was turning purple. His mouth opened and closed. He pointed in the direction of the bedroom. 

Zoro released him. Michelle collapsed onto the floor at Zoro’s feet, gasping for breath. Zoro went down the short hallway, checking through open doorways until he located the bedroom he’d had sex with Michelle in the night prior. He spotted his katanas immediately, piled on a dressing table in the corner of the room. He exchanged the swords on his hip for his own, his tension from their absence dissipating.

He returned to the main room of the house, which consisted of an open living room, kitchen, and dining area. Michelle had gotten to his feet and his arms were folded defensively. A hand print stood out visibly on his neck. 

Zoro drew Kitetsu. “Now- now- now- now, wait a minute,” Michelle stammered as he backed up quickly, knocking into a coffee table, nearly falling over before catching himself. “You have your swords. You’re free.”

Zoro walked toward him. Michelle kept backing up until his back hit the wall, brown eyes wide, face ashen. “Don’t kill me!” Michelle pleaded.

Zoro pressed the tip of Kitetsu to Michelle’s crotch. “Tell me everything about the slave ring or I’ll cut off your balls.”

The stench of urine filled the air. Michelle had pissed his boxers. “I’ll tell you!” he capitulated immediately. “Captain Cortez is in charge. We’re all part of her crew. We were slavers on the Grand Line before we were shipwrecked here a decade ago. We took over the fishing village and turned this island into an easier way to profit than attacking ships at sea.”

“Is anyone on this island not part of the slave ring?” Franky spoke up from the door.

Michelle shook his head. “We’ve kept a few of the men and women we’ve captured over the years to do labor, but Cortez sells them off as soon as the work is done. A handful of crewmen have personal slaves locked up in their houses, but otherwise the island is populated by the Black Chain Pirates.”

Zoro dug the tip of Kitetsu into Michelle’s balls, causing him to yip and stand on his toes in an attempt to get away. “How do you capture people?”

“Sex!” Michelle blurted quickly. “Any ship that stops at the island usually has a horny crew. We can normally separate everyone that way and drug them with a drink. Makes for easy picking.”

Zoro’s expression darkened. It had, indeed, been easy to capture him that way. He’d have to refuse any drinks from strangers from now on. “How else?”

“We drug their meals if they don’t take a honeypot,” Michelle said. “Then, we use seastone handcuffs and seastone bars to contain people until the slave ship arrives. Ivers gasses the people to keep them unconscious as much as possible.”

Zoro knew that part. If he and Sanji didn’t have superior constitutions, they might have been knocked out from the gas much longer. 

“You got balls going after the Straw Hat crew,” Franky commented. 

“Not anymore.” Zoro flicked his wrist, severing Michelle’s cock and balls from his body with Kitetsu. Blood erupted from Michelle’s groin. Michelle screamed in pain and horror, then the shock of the injury caused him to pass out. He collapsed onto the floor. 

“Damn, Zoro, harsh.” Franky held his hands protectively over his own groin. 

“He deserves worse.” Zoro wiped Kitetsu’s bloody blade on the back of Michelle’s boxers before sheathing the katana. He imagined the demon blade enjoyed the bloodthirstiness of his actions.

“We’re gonna let him bleed out?” 

“Yeah.” 

“Super.” Franky opened the door and let Zoro proceed him back outside. He shut the door behind them. “Where to next?”

A loud crack reverberated down the street, followed by a rumbling sound. Zoro and Franky exchanged glances and then ran in the direction of the noise. Franky nabbed Zoro’s collar when Zoro kept going straight and Franky turned the corner, keeping Zoro on the correct path. They rounded another street corner and saw a larger house in the center of the block had crumbled into rubble. Villagers – who were really a pirate slave crew – came out of their houses on the street to see what had happened. 

Sanji walked out from behind the rubble, brushing off dust from his coat sleeves. He spotted Franky and Zoro and walked over to them. “The Pietros?” Zoro asked.

“Dead,” Sanji said succinctly. He eyed the number of people gathering on the block. “Shall we take care of the rest of these Black Chain Pirates?” He’d gotten the same information as Zoro about the main occupants of the village.

Zoro’s lips curved darkly, popping the seal on Kitetsu. “Hell, yes.”

They didn’t make a challenge out of it. This wasn’t for fun, this was for revenge for all the people they had enslaved over the years. Sanji lit his leg afire and Zoro drew a second blade. Franky cracked his knuckles. The slavers on the block didn’t stand a chance. 

The battle between the three Straw Hat Pirates and the Black Chain Pirates was a complete slaughter. It was almost anticlimactic. Zoro, Sanji, and Franky were leagues above the Black Chain Pirates and they had the element of surprise with the early attack. The Black Chain Pirates relied on trickery, not strength. Dozens of bloody and burned bodies littered the street within minutes. The three of them began systematically going house-to-house, street-by-street, looking for other slavers and a handful of personal slaves in order to set them free. By the time they reached the center of the village, thirty-four slavers were dead and four slaves had been freed.

“Hey, bros, check it,” Franky said, pointing down the main street. Zoro and Sanji turned to look. Nami and Robin were storming up the sandy road like vengeance personified. Rage rolled from them both in waves. Nami turned off on a side street before she reached the three men. Robin gave them a tight nod when she passed.

“Gentlemen,” she said shortly, and continued on another side street.

Sanji swooned after both ladies were gone from sight. “Nami-san and Robin-chan are beautiful when they are angry.”

“I don’t want to be anywhere near where they’re going,” Franky said. “Yeowch.”

“Let’s finish cleaning up the other streets,” Zoro said. Kitetsu and Enma both itched for more blood and he was one hundred percent on board. 

The three men carried on ridding the Grand Line of the Black Chain Pirates. They met up with Usopp and Brook, who’d escaped the wrath of Nami at Marte’s house. “Nami is scary,” Usopp declared before he and Brook opted to check on Luffy and Jinbe at the Governor’s villa.

“We have not heard anything explode from that direction,” Brook said. “Though, perhaps Luffy-san is exercising some restraint.”

Usopp gave Brook a disbelieving look. “Luffy? Restraint?”

They departed, and Zoro, Sanji, and Franky continued on their cold, systematic execution of the slavers. Luffy wasn’t the killing type, but Zoro had no compunction about it and neither did the rest of the crew. Sometimes, it had to be done, and this was one of those times. Having them languish in a marine prison was too good for the slavers. The early morning sun made the blood from the fallen Black Chain Pirates appear to steam. Sanji’s fire left smoldering corpses in their wake. 

Robin reappeared, joining them with a darkly pleased smile. “May I help?”

“Robin-chan, you may wreak any vengeance you desire!” Sanji simpered. 

Zoro nodded in her direction. “Watch for slaves. There may be a few still here.”

“That Renald person dead?” Franky asked, appearing concerned for Robin.

“He shall not be offering to show ladies his library of books any longer.” Robin smiled sweetly. “His tongue is now tied around his head.”

“Ew, but also super wicked.” Franky paused, then said casually, “Hey, you know, I got some books I could show you.”

Zoro couldn’t believe Franky was flirting with Robin right now. Robin, apparently, appreciated it. “I think that would be lovely, Franky.”

A localized thunderstorm formed in a small area a few streets away. Lightning began striking in the same spot repeatedly with ear-shattering cracks of thunder. “It appears Nami-san will be joining us soon,” Sanji commented as he kicked a new door down. He entered the house, and violence could be clearly heard from the open doorway.

Zoro slashed at the slaver who barrelled out of his house to see what all the noise was. He fell to the ground in two pieces. Zoro stalked into that house to see if there were any other Black Chain Pirates or slaves. He pincushioned the dead man’s housemate against the fridge, leaving blood streaks behind on the door as the body fell to the ground. Zoro, sadly, could tell the slavers from the slaves by the haunted, beaten expression on the slaves’ faces. 

Nami did join them, and they finished off the rest of the village without mercy. The Black Chain Pirates picked the wrong crew to try to enslave. Zoro shot Nami a quick look when they were done. “You good?”

Nami collapsed her Clima-Tact with satisfaction. “Now, I am.”

Usopp signaled with a colorful star exploding green in the sky, calling them to the villa. 

The expansive villa stretched across a rise overlooking the village. It was built of wood and clay, with a colorful garden out front. The five of them entered the shattered front doors and found Usopp standing in a tiled foyer with an unconscious woman handcuffed and bound in beige drapery. The foyer was well appointed, with pale orange walls, a multitude of fresh flowers in vases, and nice paintings hanging on the walls. 

“That’s her,” Zoro confirmed upon seeing the woman. “She’s the one at the rocky isle.”

“That’s Governor Isadora Cortez,” Franky also confirmed. “Or, I guess she’s also Captain Cortez. Probably killed off the real Governor when they arrived on the island.” 

“Where’s Luffy and Jinbe? And Brook?” Nami asked.

“Luffy and Jinbe are in the kitchen, making food for the slaves Cortez had imprisoned,” Usopp replied. “Brook went down to get Chopper. Cortez’s slaves… she didn’t treat them well.”

“I’d better go ensure they have a proper meal,” Sanji said and headed further into the villa.

“Kitchen’s to the right,” Usopp called after him. 

“I’m going to get the slaves we freed in town, see if they want to come up here to eat,” Franky told them before leaving the villa again.

“Did Luffy and Jinbe have any trouble?” Robin asked. 

Usopp nodded. “Apparently, one of the captives was a Devil Fruit user who’d been tortured into mindlessness. He attacked when they freed him. Took them a while to subdue him without hurting him too much.”

Robin’s expression darkened and she eyed the unconscious Cortez with venom. “How many others has she hurt or enslaved over the years?”

“Even one is too many,” Nami said and spat on Cortez. Her own history with Arlong was evident in her actions.

“I am going to find the office or wherever she kept her records,” Robin told them and walked away.

“Nami, Luffy said they’d spotted a room full of treasure while they were searching the villa,” Usopp said.

Nami’s eyes turned into beli signs and her whole demeanor changed. “Treasure room?” she said excitedly. “Let’s go and find it!”

Nami latched onto Usopp and dragged him off with her, passing Jinbe and Luffy on the way. “Ne, Zoro, where are they going?” Luffy asked, as the two joined Zoro in the foyer.

“Treasure hunting,” Zoro replied. He glanced out the open door behind him at the sun’s position. “You two want to destroy a slave ship?”

“It would be an honor,” Jinbe said with a shark-toothed smile.

“Shishishi.” Luffy smacked his fist in the other hand. “I can’t wait.”

The Sunny set sail from Coralhaven Island the next morning, loaded down with the treasure taken from the villa as well as books and papers from Cortez’s office. The slave ship had been destroyed, the slavers captured and imprisoned at the villa along with Cortez, and the slaves in the hold freed by Luffy, Zoro, and Jinbe. Cortez and the slavers from the ship were only alive due to Luffy’s benevolence. Robin had left the evidence of the slave ring for the marines, who’d been contacted to rescue the freed slaves. The marines were due by the end of the day. 

By mid-afternoon, Zoro sat on the lawn beneath the shade of the tree on the main deck, polishing his swords. Robin was reading through the papers from Cortez’s office on a lounge chair nearby. Nami, wearing a bikini that matched her hair, was sunning herself on a towel. Chopper, Usopp, Luffy and Brook were fishing off the rail. Zoro could hear Franky’s and Jinbe’s booming laughter coming from the helm deck. 

Sanji swanned down from the galley, holding a tray balanced on his fingertips carrying drinks and snacks. He wore a yellow shirt beneath a black vest, black single-buttoned suit coat, and a black tie. To Zoro, he seemed too decked out for a balmy afternoon at sea. Zoro wondered if Sanji was still feeling unsettled by what had happened at Coralhaven. Zoro knew that he, himself, was unsettled about how easily someone had gotten the drop on him and how badly the situation could have gone if a few factors had changed. They’d gotten lucky. Zoro might not be accepting any offers of sex from strangers for a while, if ever again.

“Drinks and snacks for my lovely Robin-chan and Nami-san,” Sanji said as he deposited a plate of cheese and crackers on the small round table beside the lounge chair. He offered Robin a pink drink with a straw and set Nami’s by her elbow.

“Thank you, Sanji,” Robin said, taking a sip. “Hm, strawberry lemonade. Perfect for the weather.”

“I thought something light and refreshing would hit the spot,” Sanji said, passing a drink to Zoro next before he started to move on.

“Oi, where’s my cheese and crackers?” Zoro said, smacking Sanji lightly in the ankle with the katana in his lap. 

Sanji kicked him in the thigh. “Do something to earn ‘em, mosshead, and maybe you’ll get some.”

Zoro thought about escalating the burgeoning fight, but then he remembered what Sanji had told him in the cell, about how Sanji wanted their fights to end, and Zoro had to cross an arm over his lap to hide the stirring in his trousers. It was still not the time to do anything about it. Their Corallhaven conquests had drugged and imprisoned them only two nights ago. While Zoro felt stupid about it, he had no idea how Sanji felt. Betrayed? Exposed? Stupid, too? 

“Whatever,” Zoro said dismissively and Sanji went to serve the rest of their nakama. Zoro watched his back, the way his strong shoulders shifted beneath the suit coat. Zoro wondered how things would be if he and Sanji had a different type of relationship, one that involved actually talking to one another about deeper things. Zoro trusted Sanji implicitly as a fighter, knew Sanji always had his back and that of the crew’s, and they worked well together when the need arose. But otherwise, they argued, fought, or ignored each other. 

It was sad, actually, now that Zoro thought about it. Zoro wasn’t the most outgoing of people, but he was close with Chopper, Usopp, Franky, and Robin. He and Nami got along, when Nami wasn’t charging him for every little thing. Luffy was in his own category of friendship. Brook was a sword-friend, not as close to Zoro as the others, but they could shoot the shit with ease. Jinbe was the only one Zoro wasn’t tight with, but Jinbe was still new to the Straw Hats so that could change. 

But Zoro and Sanji’s relationship had never evolved much beyond the surface. To Zoro, Sanji was still the same shit-talking asshole he’d been since Arlong Park. Yes, they relied on each other, trusted in one another, but that wasn’t the same as being close. Zoro wouldn’t seek out Sanji’s company voluntarily. It was a shame that it took Sanji coming on to him for Zoro to even think about it. 

Zoro realized that he didn’t know if Sanji was close with anyone on the crew. He never seemed to spend much time with anyone one-on-one. When they were at sea, he was in the galley more hours than not. The Sunny wasn’t like the Merry, with only one real place to gather. Once upon a time, Zoro, Luffy, Nami, Chopper, Robin and Usopp had spent a lot of time sitting in the Merry’s galley in the evenings or during bad weather, while Sanji prepped, cooked, cleaned, or planned meals. Vivi, too, while she was onboard. But the Sunny was large, with many places to gather and relax, and the galley was only used by the crew during mealtimes. Sanji was isolated most of the day by unintentional design. 

Zoro suddenly felt like a selfish asshole. He opted to train and nap away from the crew on a daily basis, isolating himself on purpose, but it was his choice not to interact with them. Sanji didn’t seem to have a choice. Was that why Sanji appeared to be reserved? Sure, he acted like a romantic, perverted nitwit, but that wasn’t the same thing. When was the last time Zoro heard Sanji share anything about himself? Little Garden, when he mentioned he’d grown up in the North Blue? Zoro knew Sanji hated food going to waste and seeing anyone go hungry from things he’d said in passing. But otherwise, Sanji seemed to exist solely for other people and not himself. 

“Hey, Nami. Does the cook ever talk to you about himself?” Zoro asked, drawing Nami’s attention. “Maybe while you were at Whole Cake Island?”

“No.” Nami propped herself on her elbows. Her expression darkened. “I didn’t see much of him on Whole Cake Island, but what I did see I didn’t like.”

Zoro frowned. “What does that mean?”

“At one point, he acted like a totally different person. Prince Vinsmoke,” Nami spat the name. “It was disgusting. If I hadn’t found out he was doing it to protect us and others, I would have left him to rot despite Luffy telling Sanji that he was going to starve rather than lose Sanji. But Luffy saw what Sanji was doing immediately, hurting himself, being self-sacrificing.” Nami took a deep breath and blew it out. “Sorry, I’m still upset about it. Sanji was a real asshole.”

“Sometimes we do things we regret to push away the ones we love, for their own sake,” Robin commented quietly. Zoro knew she was talking about herself and what happened long ago at Water 7 and Enies Lobby.

“Yeah.” Nami looked over at Sanji, and Zoro did the same. Sanji was over by the rail and the fishermen, doling out drinks and snacks. “I did hear Sanji’s father talking about him. He called Sanji a failure, mentally soft, and flawed. It was implied that his father found him worthless and weak.” Nami paused, and then she added sadly, “Maybe there was a reason why Sanji-kun never told us about being a Vinsmoke Prince.”

“Maybe,” Zoro echoed, though he had to agree. Vinsmoke Judge sounded like a horrible parent. “What about you, Robin? Has he ever talked to you about anything? Or have you seen him confiding in anyone?”

“No, he is very reserved,” Robin said, unintentionally verifying Zoro’s thoughts about Sanji’s personality. “I understand what it is like to not want to share about yourself or your past.”

“But you share now,” Zoro said. “You and I talk.”

“Us, too,” Nami said. 

Robin lowered the page she had been studying, turning her head to look at them both. “It took me a long time to accept that my emotions are not a weakness. Perhaps Sanji has yet to understand.”

“Hn.” Zoro watched as Sanji headed for the stairs leading to the upper deck. “He called me, you know, back on Wano. Made me promise to kill him if he wasn’t himself anymore.”

“Sounds like him,” Nami grumbled. “Self-sacrificing asshole.”

“Does this bother you, Zoro?” Robin inquired. 

“It did, but he said things were okay and I could forget about it,” Zoro said. “I’m just realizing that I don’t know him at all. I don’t think anyone does.”

“And how would you know if he wasn’t acting like himself,” Nami said with understanding. “Unless he started acting totally different, like Prince Vinsmoke all the time.”

Robin studied Zoro. “What brought on this sudden concern? You and Sanji have always had a somewhat acrimonious relationship.”

Zoro wasn’t about to tell her that Sanji was gay, at least sometimes, or that Sanji had hit on him. “I found out something about him that I had no clue about and it made me think about how closed off he is, that’s all.”

“Perhaps that is something that can be fixed,” Robin said. “I doubt Sanji would be comfortable sharing with myself or Nami. He holds us in rather extreme regard and would likely act with reserve so as not to burden us.”

Zoro grunted. “You mean, he’s an idiot who thinks women should be treated like glass figurines on a shelf instead of as people.”

Nami snorted. “That’s a polite way of putting it.”

Robin cracked a small smile. “Our Sanji is rather… misogynistic in his views, but his heart always seems to be in the right place.”

“When he’s not trying to look up our skirts,” Nami said. “At least, Brook only asks to see our panties. Sanji is a horndog. He spied on us in the woman’s bathhouse in Wano!”

Considering Zoro knew that Sanji had sex with multiple men two nights ago, it appeared his horndog tendencies were true on both ends of the sexuality spectrum, even if it was hidden. “I guess that’s something we all know about him.”

“Not exactly a stunning endorsement,” Nam said, picking up her drink. She took a sip. “Mm, this is good. I suppose we know he’s a great cook, too.” 

“We all knew that,” Zoro said. “But do either of you know what he even likes, outside of cooking and boobs?”

“No,” Nami admitted.

“Aside from throwing himself onto any sword for others, I do not,” Robin said. “Maybe you should ask him.”

Zoro normally would have questioned Robin’s sanity, but since he’d been thinking along those same lines since Sanji had come outside, he didn’t dismiss it. “Maybe I will.”

Zoro watched Sanji surreptitiously during dinner that night. Watched how he swirled around everyone, refilling drinks, taking away empty plates, bringing out additional food. He didn’t eat with everyone, never had during meals. Zoro knew Sanji had to eat but he didn’t even know when that happened. There was so much knowledge that Zoro was lacking about Sanji it was disheartening. 

And it was his own fault. He hadn’t taken the time to get to know Sanji. Sure, Sanji could’ve tried to get to know Zoro, too, but Zoro had been abrasive toward Sanji nearly from the start. He somewhat remembered Sanji being generally friendly with everyone until Zoro had insulted him in Little Garden. If Zoro remembered correctly, he’d basically called Sanji weak and that had sparked the arguments between them from that day on. Having the knowledge about Sanji’s father’s abusive words from Nami made a difference. Had Sanji, since then, been trying to prove to Zoro that he wasn’t weak? Had that been the underlying cause of all their fighting?

Shit, Zoro had really screwed up, hadn’t he? Even if he hadn’t known it. Sanji had proven, time and again, that he was as strong as the rest of the crew. Stronger at times, in fact. Had Zoro ever acknowledged that? He couldn’t remember doing so. It was doubtful. He certainly hadn’t said good things about the cook’s behavior toward others. He hadn’t cared, had he? 

Zoro sighed silently. The trouble with holding himself accountable was that it pointed out his flaws. He shouldn’t only be striving to be a better swordsman, but a better man as well. Well, tonight, things were going to change, at least on the Sanji-front. It was Zoro’s night to help with the dishes, which meant he had an excuse to be in Sanji’s presence alone.

“Since we are all together,” Robin said during a lull in conversation, “I thought I would bring up something I read in one of the papers I found in Cortez’s office.”

Robin sat in her usual spot at the eight-person dining table with Chopper between herself and Nami. Luffy sat across from her, with Usopp beside Luffy and Zoro at the end. Brook sat at one end of the table and Jinbe at the other. Sanji hovered, taking empty dishes and giving refills as needed. 

Franky frowned from his spot on the couch. “Not more on slavery, is it?”

“No, nothing along those lines,” Robin said. “It was about a treasure.”

“Treasure?” Nami perked up immediately. “Where? How much? Why have you waited to tell me?”

Robin chuckled softly. “I thought it would be best to share with everyone, Nami.”

“Is the treasure meat?” Luffy asked. 

“I doubt it, Luffy,” Robin said. “The letter I found was in a satchel in the office, likely taken from a pirate crew upon capture. It references a long-deceased Captain named Arlo ‘Red Jack’ Crane of the Bloodtide Brotherhood Pirates. The letter talks about a treasure located on Sharktooth Cay, near Mysteria Island.”

“Mysteria Island?” Nami said. “That’s one of the known locations on the log pose route after Fishman Island.” 

“That’s a long sail from where we currently are,” Jinbe commented. 

“Did it say what the treasure was, Robin-san?” Brook asked.

“The letter read, and I quote, ‘If ye ever need to vanish or rise again, the Crimson Vault still waits — untouched, sealed with blood, and brimming with gold.’”

Nami’s eyes turned into gold bars and she began salivating. “Brimming with gold…”

“I have taken the time to research Red Jack Crane and the Bloodtide Brotherhood,” Robin went on. She had an extensive collection of books, which took up a majority of the Sunny’s library. They were adding to her collection all the time, from everywhere they traveled. “It appears that Sharktooth Cay was a known stronghold of the Bloodtide Brotherhood, but there was a bloody mutiny and it was abandoned. The Bloodtide Brotherhood broke apart. Red Jack had allegedly built the Crimson Vault to store the Brotherhood’s ill-gotten gains. According to legend, clues to its location are scattered around the island. The island is rumored to be haunted by those who died seeking the treasure.”

“Good thing we’re not going there, then, eh?” Usopp laughed weakly.

“Sounds like a fun place to explore,” Luffy piped up. “Even if the treasure isn’t meat.”

“It’s a long way off, Luffy,” Franky said. “We’d have to go back almost to the Red Line to set the log pose to Mysteria Island.”

“Eh, that’s okay. We’re still looking for the last Road Poneglyph, right?” Luffy said.

“Indeed, we are,” Robin replied.

“What’s not to say that it’s there?” 

“Very astute of you, Luffy,” Jinbe said. 

“If we’re going all the way back to the Red Line, we will need to restock,” Sanji said, sounding a touch worried. “I have about two month’s worth of supplies currently onboard. More, if I stretch it.”

“So, that’s what we’re doing then?” Franky said. “Heading to Sharktooth Cay to find a Red Jack’s Crimson Vault?”

Nami was still gold bar-eyed and drooling. “...Gold…”

Robin smiled. “I believe that is a yes.”

Jinbe rose from the dining table. “I’ll change our course then.”

“Do you know what kind of weather is at Mysteria Island? If it’s bad, I should give the ship a once-over, see if any repairs should be made,” Franky said.

“I shall have to research it,” Robin said. “However, Sharktooth Cay is apparently a treacherous island of rocky cliffs, tangled woods, and half-sunken pirate ruins, with a jagged reef surrounding the island.”

Dinner was finished quickly, everyone talking about the new destination and the trip to reach it. Nami snapped out of her daze and excitedly went off to consult her maps and give Jinbe a course heading. Usopp came down with a Mysteria-Mysterious Illness that required him to go and lie in his bunk. Chopper trailed after him, calling for a doctor, twisting his hands in worry. Franky and Robin departed together, discussing the Sunny’s upkeep. Brook departed with a tip of his top hat, saying, “Thank you for the lovely meal, Sanji-san.”

Luffy finished the remaining food on the table, as he was wont to do, and then left with a joyful, “Thanks, Sanji!”

Zoro was now alone with the cook in the suddenly very silent galley. 

“Off your ass, marimo. Help me clear the table,” Sanji ordered.

Zoro pushed to his feet without protest. He began stacking plates as Sanji took the serving platters and all the glasses at one time. It always amazed Zoro that he could do that without dropping anything. He’d never said it, though. Maybe it was about time he did. “Kinda cool that you can carry all that without breaking anything.”

Sanji shot Zoro a dirty look across the bar dividing the kitchen from the dining area. The wash sink was set into the prep counter on the other side of the bar. “Of course I can carry them. I worked in a floating restaurant for eight years.”

“Only eight?” Zoro picked up the utensils around the table, putting them on the topmost plate. “Not longer?”

Sanji narrowed his eyes. “Why do you ask?”

Zoro shrugged casually. “Curious.” 

Sanji stared suspiciously at Zoro for a long few seconds before he flipped on the tap, filling one side of the sink with hot water. He added dish soap. “It took Zeff a while to have a ship retrofitted to his specifications. Didn’t even know the old man was buying one. Up until then, we were working at some island hospital. I never remember the name.”

Zoro carried the plates and utensils around the bar to the sink. He set them on the counter with the other dishes. “Huh. For some reason, I always thought that you lived on the sea.” The Baratie was a floating restaurant and he knew that Germa was a floating, mobile Kingdom thanks to Brook and Pekoms. “How’d you end up on an island?”

Sanji tensed. “What’s with all this conversation, shithead? Shut up and wash the dishes.”

Zoro had apparently touched a sensitive spot. Something must’ve happened that caused Sanji to be land-bound for a period of time. He really wanted to know, now. “What, are you afraid to tell me?” he said, shifting the plate pile into the filled, soapy sink. 

Sanji scowled at him. “I’m not afraid of anything.” 

“Then, why not answer?” Zoro said, pressing Sanji. “How’d you end up on that island?”

Sanji’s movements were somewhat jerky as he pulled a cigarette from the pack in his pocket and lit up. Zoro dipped the sponge in the soapy water and began washing the utensils. He waited for Sanji to respond. He thought about goading Sanji, but wasn’t that how all their fights usually started? Zoro wanted to get to know Sanji, to rectify this gulf that was between Sanji and everyone on the ship. Zoro had taken the time to ask the others about their relationship with Sanji. All of them reported similarly, that Sanji was a great listener, made excellent food, and rarely said anything about himself. Maybe in order to get Sanji to share, people actually needed to shut up and wait. 

Smoke curled into the air every time Sanji exhaled. He began shifting dishes around on the counter, arranging things into new piles and ordering how he wanted them washed. Zoro transferred washed utensils to the other sink for rinsing. He took his time, not wanting to give Sanji an excuse to kick him out of the galley for being done. 

“The ship that rescued me and the old man took us there,” Sanji eventually said with agitation, as if it aggrieved him to talk. “The hospital food was shit. After we recovered enough to move, he took over the kitchen. We were there for six or seven months. Turned eleven during that time. Then, the geezer got the Baratie and he said it was a place for the both of us. Lived there until Luffy came along.”

Zoro had to think about what to say next. Sanji had been rescued from something and hospitalized at age ten. He wanted to know why. But he didn’t want this to seem like an interrogation. Zoro knew he, himself, would shut down if someone questioned him repeatedly about things. The way Sanji had been so reluctant to answer indicated that he might react the same way. 

“I was hospitalized once,” Zoro decided to share. No one knew this about him, so it seemed fitting to tell Sanji when Sanji had told him something unknown about himself. Plus, if he was serious about getting to know Sanji, he had to open up, too. “Hit on the wrong guy and ended up in the village infirmary with a fractured skull and numerous broken bones. I was fourteen. Haven’t had a sense of direction since.” 

Sanji shifted the cigarette in his mouth and moved to Zoro’s other side. He picked up a dish towel and put it over his shoulder. “Wondered why you always get lost. Thought maybe it was because you were a sentient plant.”

“Heh.” Zoro washed a plate. “No, just a run-of-the-mill brain injury.”

Sanji snorted softly, as he flipped on the water and rinsed the utensils. “I wouldn’t normally call a brain injury being run-of-the-mill, except I’ve seen you after every battle, have patched you up myself.”

Zoro added the cleaned plate to the rinse sink, leaning it upright against the side of the sink so as not to be in Sanji’s way. “Good thing I heal fast.”

“Hn, yeah.” Sanji dried the utensils in his hand with the dish towel. “Though one of these days, you’re going to give Chopper a heart attack if you keep removing your bandages.”

“They hamper my movement. And they itch.” 

Sanji set the dried utensils on another dish towel that was spread on the counter beside the sink. He didn’t say anything else. Zoro fell silent, as well. Waiting had worked before, maybe it would work again. He continued washing the plates, transferring them one after another into the other sink. Sanji would rinse them off, dry them, and set them with the utensils. He smoked his cigarette almost to the butt before he spoke again.

“The old man and I starved on a rock for eighty-five days. We were malnourished to a deadly degree.” Sanji said quietly. “Took about four months to fully recover.”

The words should have been surprising, but Zoro realized the clues had been there, the way Sanji fed everyone no matter where they were, that he hated seeing anyone being hungry, that food should never be wasted. He’d fed that starving pirate the first day they’d met, behind the restaurant’s back. It was why Luffy had invited Sanji to join their crew. Sanji had starved himself once and he’d refused to let anyone else be put in that position. “Do you still worry about it happening again?” Zoro asked, somewhat knowing the answer already. 

Sanji stabbed out his cigarette in the ashtray on the bar. “Yeah. I go over the Sunny’s stores every week, seeing how much we have, how long I can make it last if something happens. I tie a lot of things to empty barrels so it’ll float if the Sunny sinks. When we’re stopped at an island, things can get out of my control when it comes to food sources and it bothers me when we’re separated and I don’t know if you guys are eating.”

Zoro had gone hungry before, mainly by getting lost during his pirate hunter days, and he’d eaten some terrible things to quash his hunger. It was why food was fuel to him, not something to enjoy. Even though he had to admit, to himself at least, that he really liked some of the things Sanji cooked. “At least you never have to worry about Luffy going hungry. That guy can find food anywhere.”

Sanji tensed again, so much so that the plate in his hand creaked as if it were about to crack. He quickly dried it and set it aside. “Are we done talking now, marimo, or are you going to yammer the whole night? I’ve got other things to do than stand around waiting for you to wash dishes.”

Zoro was surprised. He’d stumbled onto another sensitive subject. When in the world had Luffy ever gone hungry when Sanji was around? Then he remembered his conversation with Nami about Whole Cake Island and how Luffy was going to starve rather than lose Sanji. “Shit, he really did it?”

“Did what, shit swordsman?” Sanji rinsed a plate, dried it off, and stacked it on the others with more force than necessary.

“Luffy. He starved himself because of you.”

That was the wrong thing to say. Sanji grabbed the edge of the counter, his voice deadly. “Out. Get out.” His knuckles were white.

Fuck, Zoro really put his foot in it. He didn’t know what to say to diffuse the situation, and Sanji’s defenses had obviously gone back up. It was too bad, because Zoro felt like they’d been connecting. Now, it was back to hostility. The best thing he could probably do right now was to leave.

Zoro set the sponge on the edge of the sink and departed. He had a feeling that getting to know Sanji was going to take quite a while.

The Thousand Sunny docked at Kingfisher Reef, an island they’d stopped at previously, after leaving Wano. It was a large, populous island with plenty of markets and shipbuilding supplies. The island boasted a water park that provided flotation vests for non-swimmers, allowing anyone to partake in the wacky wave pools and water slides. Everyone but Sanji, Chopper, Franky, and Zoro went off to enjoy the park. Chopper wanted to add to his medical storage since they were making an extended trip. Zoro came along as a pack mule. He’d been to the water park the last time they’d been to the island. He wasn’t interested in making a return visit.

Franky dovetailed off at the shipyard near the docks to make his purchases. Zoro followed Chopper and Sanji toward town. The marketplace was set up inside large, interconnected warehouses that seemed to stretch on forever. Everything and anything could be found there. The stalls were packed close together and shoppers crowded the aisle loaded down with bags or carts full of goods. The harbor had been full when the Sunny had arrived and numerous visitors were out shopping.

Zoro made sure not to get lost in the marketplace by carrying Chopper on his shoulders, allowing Chopper to see easily and not be crushed by the crowd. It had been a week since they’d left Coralhaven Island. Zoro was supposed to be on dish duty that evening, but that was canceled as they were going to stay in town overnight. It was too bad, because he’d wanted the opportunity to try talking with Sanji again. They had been fighting nearly non-stop all week since Zoro had inadvertently blamed Sanji for causing Luffy to go hungry. Zoro had also been horny non-stop because of the fighting, but it was definitely not the time to make a move. Sanji would just as soon rip Zoro’s dick off than accept an advance, he seemed that defensively angry. 

Zoro had gone to Luffy, to find out what had occurred on Whole Cake Island regarding his going hungry. “Sanji was trying to save everyone but himself,” Luffy had told him. “He didn’t think he was worth saving. He was wrong.”

Combined with what Nami had told Zoro about Vinsmoke Judge’s harsh criticisms about Sanji, and Sanji’s self-sacrificial tendencies, it made perfect sense even if the details were fuzzy. He didn’t think Sanji would knowingly let someone go hungry unless it was for a bigger reason and protecting someone fit that bill. Part of Zoro regretted telling Luffy not to go after Sanji, even though at the time it was the right thing to do based on the information they had. The alliance was about to go up against Kaidou and Luffy wanted to run off and pick a fight with Big Mom. Two Emperors would be one too many and Zoro didn’t want the alliance to be slaughtered. But Luffy always went with his heart over logic and it apparently had been the right decision. From what Zoro had pieced together, Sanji would’ve been lost to them otherwise.

The thought of not having Sanji around anymore made Zoro’s stomach churn unpleasantly. Until now, he thought he wouldn’t personally care if the cook left. Sure, it would weaken the Straw Hat crew a lot, but it would be one less headache on a daily basis. He was such an asshole. 

“Ooh, there’s the stall I’m looking for,” Chopper said, tugging on Zoro’s hair. “Keep going, Zoro. It’s another seven stalls away.”

They wove through the patrons in the market, Sanji pulling the cart that was already partially packed with items. The steady hum of voices, the rattle of carts, the thumps and clinks of bags filled the air with noise. The smell of fresh fruit, flowers, perfumes, fish, and a sea of bodies was pungent. People were dressed in a variety of styles and colors, and the mix of races and species was large. Chopper pointed out the stall when it was in Zoro’s sight.

“I’m going to go on ahead,” Sanji said when Zoro stopped. 

Now that Zoro knew about Sanji’s food-related worries, Zoro wanted to help. “Wait for us, dartbrow. We’ll go together.”

“I don’t need you to hold my hand, shithead,” Sanji sneered at him before he continued on, taking the cart with him. 

Zoro sighed. This was getting annoying. He needed to figure out something or give up, and Zoro wasn’t the giving-up kind.

“You two have been fighting a lot this week,” Chopper commented worriedly. “More than normal.”

“Yeah, I know.” Zoro lowered Chopper to the ground in front of the stall. The stall had shelves upon shelves of colorful bottles and jars of medicines. “I said something unthinkingly and he’s still mad about it.”

“Then you should apologize,” Chopper told him. 

Zoro snorted. “Like that would work.”

Chopper clucked his tongue. “Everyone likes to hear an apology, Zoro. Especially if you hurt someone’s feelings.”

Fuck, Zoro hadn’t even thought about that. Not the apology, but that he’d hurt Sanji’s feelings. He thought he’d made Sanji angry. But that was the problem, wasn’t it? He didn’t know Sanji well enough to be able to tell the difference between Sanji being hurt and angry, or any of the other emotions Sanji might be feeling. 

Zoro dragged his hand over his hair. “You’re right. I should apologize. Don’t think he’ll listen, though.”

“Maybe you can get him something while we’re here? An apology gift?” Chopper suggested. 

It wasn’t a bad idea, but… “I don’t know what he likes, besides food and cooking,” Zoro finished his thought out loud. He knew Sanji also liked boobs and dicks, but that wasn’t appropriate as an apology. 

“Hm.” Chopper tapped his hoof against his furry chin. “We know he dresses nice and he always smells good.”

“True.” Some of Sanji’s go-to insults involved Zoro’s lack of bathing. Zoro did have a quick wash down after every training session, so the insult didn’t carry much weight, but compared to Sanji’s pristine appearance Zoro looked like a slug. Zoro thought it would be weird, though, to buy Sanji clothes. But soap or aftershave might be okay. “Good idea, Chopper.”

“Shut up, asshole, I don’t need your compliments,” Chopper decried with a wiggle and clap. 

“Heh. Buy your stuff.”

Once Chopper was done at the stall, Zoro was loaded down with bags, and Chopper on his shoulders again, they went in search of a stall that sold bath items. Chopper directed Zoro by tugging on his hair in the direction he wanted Zoro to go. Zoro was debating on making Chopper a long-term addition to his shoulders. It would cut down drastically on the amount of time he spent being lost. Would be hard to fight, though, and he didn’t want Chopper to get hurt.

They reached a stall on the other side of the market building that was filled with soaps, shampoos, perfumes, and colognes. The items were arranged in a scented array, from heavy musks to light floral scents. There were a variety of sizes and shapes. Chopper wrinkled his nose. “That’s a lot of scents mixed together.”

“Do we need to go?” Zoro asked. He knew Chopper’s nose was sensitive. It was a benefit when he needed to sniff out one of the crew – usually Zoro, when he’d gotten lost – but a detriment in other ways. 

“No, I’m okay,” Chopper said. “I’ll concentrate on sniffing one of them and it should help make the others less powerful.”

Zoro kept Chopper on his shoulders as he eyed the stall’s wares. The vendor wore a bright smock and bamboo sticks in her upswept blonde hair. “May I help you locate something?” she asked with a pleasant smile. “Your tanuki is adorable, by the way.”?

“I’m not a tanuki, I’m a tonakai!” Chopper stated with a huff.

“You got anything… manly, I guess?” Zoro asked the vendor.

She appeared amused. “Of course.” She rose from her stool in the corner and walked over toward the more musky scents. “This side of the stall contains items that include oils such as cedarwood, sandalwood, patchouli, oakmoss and vetiver. Men tend to prefer earthy, spicy, smoky, or woody scents.”

Zoro used whatever soap was on hand, usually purchased in bulk by Sanji. “Uh, so how do I pick?”

“You can smell the scents through the paper wrapper around the soaps,” she told him. “Once you decide on a scent you like, you can choose the carrier you prefer.”

Zoro turned to the shelves of scented items, as she stepped out of the way. Chopper rested an elbow on Zoro’s head and propped his chin with his hoof. “I’ll skip smelling them, Zoro, if that’s okay?”

“Yeah, sure,” Zoro agreed. He didn’t want to give Chopper a headache. Besides, he was the one who should be apologizing to Sanji, not Chopper. 

Zoro decided to be methodical, going along one row before descending to the next. There were a lot of scents to choose from. Some soaps were single-scented, some had a blend. Zoro smelled campfires, a lot of trees, damp soil, grass, and food. The number of smells was starting to make his eyes water and his nose itch to sneeze. He hated knowing what this could be doing to Chopper, though Chopper hadn’t said anything. “You okay up there?” Zoro asked with concern.

“I’m fine,” Chopper told him. “There’s a pumpkin spice that I’m concentrating on. It’s making me hungry.” Chopper’s tummy growled in agreement, causing him to giggle.

“Heh. Okay.” Zoro shifted down another row. He was almost at the bottom of the shelves now, which were near his knees. He picked up a bar of soap and sniffed it. It smelled warm, slightly sweet, and resinous. Exotic, sensual. A bit spicy. One hundred percent Sanji. Zoro straightened, holding the soap in his hand. The label indicated it was amber. 

He turned to the vendor, extending the bar of soap to her. “I’ll take this one.” Soap was innocuous, whereas cologne seemed more personal. 

The vendor smiled, put the soap in a tiny blue and white striped bag, and accepted Zoro’s beli in return. “I hope whomever is getting this enjoys the gift.”

Zoro felt his ears heat. “Thanks,” he said gruffly. He stuffed the small bag into the inner pocket of his olive-green long coat. He turned away from the stall and looked around. “We should find the cook. He might be done by now.”

Chopper tugged on Zoro’s hair in the direction he should head in. “And he might want to stop for lunch. I hope someone is selling pumpkin pie!”

Zoro carried one end of the heavily laden cart while Sanji carried the other up the steps to the galley. They’d returned to the Sunny a few minutes ago, meeting up with Franky, who was directing the loading of his purchases onto the deck. Chopper and Zoro had caught up with Sanji after a brief search and they’d followed him as he finished shopping. Chopper got his wish for pumpkin pie, which Sanji purchased at a vendor, and lunch for Sanji and Zoro was a quick bite at a takoyaki stand before they headed back to the ship.

After dropping off Chopper and his bags in the infirmary, Zoro continued with his pack duty obligations. Normally, he’d either help move the cart or transfer the items individually to the galley or down to the storeroom in the hold, then leave them for Sanji to put away. This time, he had other plans. Once the cart was in the galley, he pulled his katanas from his waistband and set them on the dining table while Sanji was unlocking the storage room door, half-hidden behind the service elevator.

Sanji’s brow creased in a frown when he saw Zoro still in the galley when he returned. He’d lit a cigarette, which dangled from the corner of his mouth. “Why are you still here?”

“I’m going to help,” Zoro told him. 

Sanji scowled. “I don’t want your help.”

“Tough shit, you’re getting it anyway.” Zoro picked up one of the heavy bags and headed toward the open storage room door.

Sanji was on Zoro’s heels. “You can’t just put things in there!” 

“Then tell me where you want it,” Zoro said, glancing around after entering the room. Zoro had never been inside it before. The storeroom was situated beside Chopper’s infirmary and it contained large boxes, bags, and barrels of unprocessed food. Everything was lined up and balanced on top of each other in squared off rows. It was an exceedingly organized room. 

“It doesn’t work like that.” Sanji grabbed his hair briefly, almost like he was in distress. “Look, just go away. I’ll take care of this.”

Zoro set the bag he had down by his feet and gave Sanji a determined look. “I’m not going anywhere. The ship’s food stores are important. I should learn what you have and where you keep it.”

Sanji eyed him suspiciously. “You never gave a shit before.”

“I do now.” Zoro folded his arms. Why was everything always a fight with Sanji? Oh, yeah, because Zoro had never bothered to let it be anything else. The blame rested on Zoro’s shoulders. “Now, are you going to tell me where things go or am I going to put it wherever I want?”

Sanji shifted the cigarette from one side of his mouth to the other, studying Zoro. “Fine, but it’s a lot of work. If you’re going to help, you can’t crap out in the middle.”

Zoro snorted. “I think I can handle putting bags and boxes away, idiot cook.”

“Tch.” Sanji drew on his cigarette, held it, then exhaled the smoke through his nose. He turned toward the door and picked up a clipboard that was hanging on the wall from a peg. A pencil was stuck between the clips. He faced Zoro again and extended it to him. “This is a drawing of where everything is in the storeroom. I update it every time I restock. I keep a list of what I have on hand and what date it was bought beneath it, which I update weekly as things get used. There’s another one down in the hold, for that storage room.”

Zoro took the clipboard and examined the drawing. It was very precise and neatly labeled. Anyone could read it and know where things were located. “Why do you need a drawing? It’s your storeroom.”

“For when you get another cook. I don’t want them to have to struggle figuring out what we do or don’t have in storage.”

Zoro looked up sharply. Sanji had said for when they got another cook, as if it were a given. “Why would you think we’d ever get another cook?”

Sanji flapped his hand dismissively. “You know why.”

“No, I don’t,” Zoro said. Since coming to the self-realization that he would actually care if Sanji wasn’t with them anymore, this was disturbing to him. 

“Neither of us is guaranteed to come out of this alive, idiot,” Sanji said as if it were a given statement. 

“Yeah, I know, and I’ve accepted that I’m going to die, but I’m still going to fight tooth and nail against it,” Zoro said. “Aren’t you?”

Sanji didn’t answer immediately, cutting his gaze away from Zoro. Zoro’s stomach dropped. Was this why Sanji didn’t have any close ties with the crew, because he felt that he was disposable? That if the crew didn’t know him well, they wouldn’t mourn him? Zoro recalled him saying Luffy could find another cook, back on Thriller Bark when they’d faced Bartholomew Kuma. Zoro had gained respect for Sanji that day, for trying to take his place. But that hadn’t translated into friendship and now, looking back, he could see that Sanji had done it because he thought his life wasn’t worth saving. I’ve always been prepared to make this sacrifice…

Zoro set the clipboard on a nearby box, stalked up to Sanji, and grabbed him forcefully by the chin. Sanji kicked at his leg, hard enough to bruise, but Zoro didn’t budge. “You fucking self-sacrificing idiot. You don’t get to decide that you’re going to throw your life away like it has no meaning. You fight and fight some more and then you get up and do it again and you don’t fucking quit. You matter, shit for brains. Luffy was going to voluntarily starve to save you because of how much you matter to him. You are not disposable. Or replaceable. Get it out of your fucking head that you believe you are, because you are not.”

Sanji was staring at him, wide-eyed, the cigarette tucked into the corner of his mouth. “Why do you even care?” he asked roughly. “You hate me. Thought you’d be glad to be rid of me.”

Zoro winced internally, because it was the truth. He hadn’t cared. He’d been an asshole. “I’ve been an asshole,” he repeated out loud. “I’ve treated you like shit for almost the entire time I’ve known you and you didn’t deserve that. And I’m going to change that, because you are part of this crazy family and it’s about fucking time I started treating you like nakama.”

A sheen appeared in Sanji’s visible eye and he tried to jerk his face away. “Let go, asshat.”

Zoro released him and Sanji turned quickly away. A steady cloud of smoke appeared above Sanji’s head. Zoro went back to the clipboard, picking it up to study it. An uncomfortable pall hung in the storeroom, but Zoro didn’t regret saying it. He’d wanted to change his relationship with Sanji and now Sanji knew it, too. 

“We need to rotate the stock,” Sanji finally said. “The new items go on the bottom at the very back and everything else moves forward. I date everything and it needs to be kept in order. With this amount of stock, we can probably make a new stack, which will move things along faster.”

“Okay.” Zoro released the breath he’d been holding. Sanji hadn’t kicked him out and closed himself off. Zoro took it as a sign that Sanji wanted things to be different between them, too. “Where do we start?”

The Thousand Sunny bumped along the rough waves, a strong wind buffeting the sails, keeping them ahead of the storm for now. Nami predicted they’d have another four hours before they’d need to batten down to ride it out. She was rarely wrong. 

But, for now, the crew was scattered around the ship, hiding from the cold front that preceded the storm. Sanji was in the galley, because that’s where he always was, but this time Zoro had sought haven there, too. Normally, he’d be up in the Crow’s Nest, getting in a last minute workout or a nap, but waiting for the excuse of dish duty to talk to Sanji seemed cowardly now. 

Sanji wore a bright orange shirt beneath a dark brown vest, sans tie, the collar unbuttoned and his sleeves rolled. He puffed idly on his cigarette as he prepared bentos and thermoses of hot drinks to be taken by the crew during the storm to wherever they decided to hole up. They’d take turns going out on deck as needed. Jinbe had indicated he’d remain at the helm as the rain wouldn't bother the Fish-Man. Sanji had already set aside a waterproof pack for him, to be lashed to the helm’s bench in case he became hungry.

Zoro sat on the bar-length bench, katanas in front of him. He was currently polishing Enma, his kit open on the bar. He’d changed into a long-sleeved, blue t-shirt due to the colder temperature, paired with his usual trousers and green haramaki. His bandana was wrapped around his bicep. “What about music?” he asked, continuing their conversation about random likes and dislikes. It had been two weeks since they’d left Kingfisher Reef. Since that time, Zoro had done his best to get to know Sanji better. It hadn’t been easy. Sanji was as prickly as a porcupine and turned almost everything Zoro said around so they were talking about him instead of Sanji. Or things dissolved into a fight, because Zoro still didn’t speak Sanji’s language well enough. It was frustrating as hell. 

“Hn. I’m good with whatever,” Sanji said, neatly cutting the washed cucumbers into even slices for the bentos. The steady tap of the knife hitting the cutting board was almost soothing.

Zoro sighed with exasperation, dabbing at Enma with a cotton ball. “You have to like some type of music better than others.”

Sanji shrugged. “I’ve never thought about it.”

“Well, what about when you were a kid? What kind of music did you listen to then?”

Sanji paused his cutting, the loss of sound causing Zoro to glance up. Sanji’s expression had gone tight, the cherry on his cigarette bright red as he inhaled. He blew out a puff of smoke that hid his face. “Germa didn’t have music,” he said shortly, then turned the question on Zoro. “What about you? What tender tunes graced your ears as a dirt-infested tot?”

“Koto music, primarily,” Zoro answered. “I still prefer meditative music because of it.” He set aside the cotton ball and picked up a soft cloth to wipe along Enma’s blade. He knew Sanji was trying to deflect, but Zoro wasn’t going to go along with it. “What was it like, growing up on Germa?”

Sanji stopped chopping again. Zoro kept his focus on his blade. In the top corner of his vision, he saw Sanji clutching the knife handle with white knuckles. Zoro kept quiet. It had worked the last time Zoro had asked him something very personal about himself. Zoro knew, from the others, that the Vinsmokes weren’t good people. Sanji might not want to talk about them. 

Zoro set the cloth aside and retrieved the bottle of choji oil from his kit. He placed a few drops of oil onto his katana, evenly distributed along the blade. After recapping the oil, he used a different cloth to rub the oil along the surface in a thin, invisible layer. 

Sanji set the knife carefully aside and started distributing cucumber slices between the bentos lined at the top of the prep counter, beneath the bartop. “You remember Punk Hazard?” he said.

“Yeah,” Zoro said. It had been a place of both despair and body-swapping shenanigans. “Vegapunk’s labs and research facility. Caesar Clown was conducting experiments there.”

“That was Germa,” Sanji said, his voice taut. “Only my siblings and I were the test subjects.”

Zoro’s focus darted up to stare at Sanji in dismay. “You were experimented on?”

Sanji’s cigarette smoke blocked his downturned face from view again. “Yes.”

“Shit.” Zoro couldn’t fathom what that had been like, especially as a kid. “By who?”

“My father.”

Horror choked Zoro. Sanji’s father had experimented on him? “How? What did he do to you?”

“Genetically modified us so that we would become supersoldiers, like Caesar was trying to do to those kids,” Sanji said, still carefully placing cucumbers into the bentos, watching his hands rather than looking anywhere else. “Only Vinsmoke Judge was successful at it. Well, except for me, at the time.” His lip curled derisively. “Turns out, I was just a late bloomer.”

Zoro’s mind spun. He’d known about the genetic modifications going into effect. He was part of that briefing Sanji had given the crew once they’d sailed from Wano, about the changes to his body so no one would be alarmed if he appeared deformed. He hadn’t known Sanji’s father was the one who did that to him. “Fuck. What else did that bastard do?”

“Eh, ran fitness tests on us, made us fight each other, other lab rat bullshit,” Sanji said offhandedly. Zoro could hear the hollowness in his tone, as if he were distancing himself from it, like it happened to someone else. 

“But your modifications didn’t kick in until Wano.”

“And?” Sanji finished passing out the cucumbers, picked up a tied bunch of carrots, and plopped them in the sink. He began washing them thoroughly with a small scrub brush that he used strictly for cleaning vegetables. 

“Didn’t he know you couldn’t do whatever it was your siblings did?”

“Oh, he knew,” Sanji chuckled bitterly. “Didn’t care. Made me do it even when I was so badly injured because of my brothers beating me that I could barely move. Died more than once. They kept bringing me back. Should’ve just left me dead.”

Zoro’s fingers curled into fists. He was finding it hard to breathe against the sympathetic pain and rage he felt squeezing his heart. Sanji had been physically abused as a child, at the hands of his own family. “How long did it go on?”

“From as far back as I can remember until I was seven,” Sanji said with detachment. 

“Why’d it stop?” Zoro had to know. Sanji had joined the crew from the Baratie, not Germa. Sanji had told Zoro about starving on a rock with Zeff when he was ten. 

“Judge got fed up with his worthless failure of a son, faked my death, and tossed me in the dungeon instead of actually killing me, which would have been merciful. Vinsmokes don’t do mercy.” Sanji bared his teeth in a horrific parody of a smile. “Got an iron mask stuck on my head and everything, so no one could see my useless face. My brothers found out I was down there eventually and the daily beatings recommenced. Good thing I’ve always healed pretty quickly, so they could continue unhampered.”

Zoro wanted to kill them all. “How did you get away?” he choked out.

“Reiju, actually. My sister.” Sanji picked up the knife and began skinning carrots with expert speed. “Germa was in East Blue, attacking some island or another, and she let me out of the dungeon. Judge caught me getting the key to the mask but decided to let me go on the promise that I would never let anyone know that I was related to him. He didn’t want to let his reputation be sullied by a weak, disgusting failure like me.”

Sanji had called himself a failure more than once, and Zoro was reminded of what Nami had told him about overhearing Vinsmoke Judge’s vile words about Sanji. “What a fucking asshole.”

A laugh startled from Sanji. It sounded more like himself than the bitter chuckle before. “That is putting it mildly.”

“Shit. I’m sorry you had to deal with that as a kid,” Zoro said, forcing his hands to unclench. Bloody half-moons dented his palms. 

Sanji shrugged it off. “No worse than anyone else has had to deal with. I got out, ended up with Zeff, now I’m here.”

Zoro didn’t believe that for a second. Sanji was physically, mentally, and emotionally abused as a child, nearly starved to death, and then continued to be abused by his rescuer. Zoro had seen Zeff flatten Sanji and heard the shit Zeff had told him before Mihawk arrived. Hell, Zoro bet that Sanji thought Zeff’s treatment of him was normal, and Zoro had only caught a glimpse of it. It had probably been much worse. Sanji hadn’t been given the chance to be truly free until Luffy had come into his life. No wonder Sanji didn’t let anyone get close. Fifteen or sixteen years of continual abuse would make anyone think their life wasn’t worth anything. 

“Oi, cook,” Zoro said. “Don’t doubt for a second that you’re stronger than anyone I’ve ever known.”

“Tch. Whatever, marimo,” Sanji dismissed. But Zoro saw the pink flush that dusted his cheeks. 

Zoro turned his attention back to Enma and the oil he’d applied. Sanji began cutting the carrots into precise sticks, to be added to the bentos. “I don’t really like most of Brook’s music,” Zoro said, drawing the conversation back out of the darkness and into the light. “Don’t tell him, though.”

Sanji smirked. “Not a fan of the Soul King’s rock?”

“It’s all very… loud.” 

“You sound like an old man.”

“Shut up.”

The Thousand Sunny stopped at Zou a couple weeks later, using a Vivre Card, visiting the Minks and their other friends living there. They caught up with Carrot and her role as the new ruler of the Mokomo Dukedom. Sanji restocked the supplies again, even though they had plenty, and Zoro took the time to help. They stayed overnight before continuing on their way, following the Tri-Log pose toward Golden Hook Island. Along the way, Zoro learned that Sanji liked to indulge in dark chocolate paired with black tea, that his fear of bugs came from the time he was in the dungeon, and that his metal-like exoskeleton made the cold feel colder.

Golden Hook Island was a crescent shaped island that resembled a fishing hook that curved into the sea. Sunset created a golden glow across the shores of the island, giving it its name. A village sat on the inner curve of the hook, wooden houses and small businesses built on stilts above the water. The natural lagoon teemed with marine life and the breeze was always warm. The locals lived quietly, fishing and tending small gardens built in raised beds. A jagged outcropping known as Siren’s Rock jutted into the sea at the base of the hook, rumored to be haunted by mermaids that had left their home only to perish at the hands of greedy humans. 

A vast swath of the island was covered in lush jungle with ancient trees dripping with curtains of thick vines. Freshwater springs were hidden within the jungle, along with underground caverns that allegedly held secrets from days past. Colorful birds flitted through the canopy, and the air smelled of orchids and salt. 

The Thousand Sunny set anchor off the coast and Franky ferried them over to the island via the Mini Merry II. Zoro had dressed in his long-coat for the trip and was surprised to find the bag from Kingfisher Island still in his pocket. He’d never given it to Sanji. 

“Here,” Zoro said, thrusting the small blue and white striped bag at Sanji when they’d reached an empty dock beneath the stilt-village. Other boats were berthed beneath houses and businesses, tied to narrow piers. The Sunny was currently the only big ship in the area. 

Sanji’s brow furrowed. “What’s this?” he asked, taking the package.

“Something I picked up for you back on Kingfisher. An apology gift, of sorts.” Zoro rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. He probably should have waited to give it to Sanji another time. “But we’re long past when I should’ve given it to you with an apology. So, uh, belated sorry for saying something dumb, I guess?”

Franky and Jinbe climbed the steps to the tavern and the interconnecting wooden bridges between the stilt-homes and businesses. They were part of the last group to arrive from the Sunny, along with Zoro and Sanji.

“You say dumb shit all the time,” Sanji commented, opening the bag to peer inside. 

“Then consider it a blanket apology.”

“Heh.” Sanji pulled out the wrapped bar of soap and examined the label. “Amber soap?”

Zoro suddenly felt like he was standing in front of his first crush again, offering him a lemon pop. Shit. His face began to heat. “You, um, seem to like being clean and, uh, not stinking.”

Sanji appeared bemused. He sniffed the soap and a pleased expression came over his features. “This is nice. I like the spiced undertone. It’s not too heavy on the resin, either.” 

Zoro tried to smile. He felt like he was showing too many teeth. “Uh, great, nice. Glad you like it.”

Sanji tucked the bar of soap into the breast pocket of his suit coat, folded the small bag into thirds, and tucked it away as well. He was wearing a pale blue shirt with tiny white squares on it, a woven darker blue tie, along with his dark suit coat and trousers. “Thanks, marimo. I’ll let you say a couple more dumb things for free.”

“Sounds good,” Zoro said, which was dumb thing number one. His tongue felt tied.

Sanji appeared bemused again and turned to go up the stairs. “C’mon, idiot. The others are waiting.”

Zoro buried his face in his hands for a second and groaned silently. The whole Sanji-thing started with Zoro being potentially interested in having sex with Sanji, but it had morphed into wanting to be Sanji’s friend, to get close to him like he was with his other nakama. It was not the time to be developing a crush.

“Don’t get lost, dumbshit,” Sanji’s voice drifted down to him.

Zoro dropped his hands with a sigh and went to join his crew.

The tavern on stilts was a good size, with plenty of room for the ten members of the Straw Hat crew plus numerous villagers. They’d anchored near sunset and lanterns had been lit inside the tavern. Round tables and chairs filled the majority of the tavern, with a simple bar lining one wall. Behind the bar, a large glass mirror reflected the room, making it appear larger. Bottles of alcohol and tapped kegs rose on either side of the mirror. The patrons of the tavern wore everything from shift dresses to shorts to overalls. The villagers were all humans, but they didn’t seem adverse to having visitors of other varieties in their midst. 

The Straw Hats had split up in the tavern, rather than sticking together. Nami was chatting amicably with people as she circled the room, picking pockets and putting things back that weren’t of interest. Robin was inquiring about the underground caverns. Franky and Usopp had joined a group of builders. Luffy had seated himself at a populous table that had been served food and was snatching things with rubber hands from plates as he chatted enthusiastically with folks. Jinbe, Chopper, and Brook had chosen a table for themselves. Sanji made a simpering beeline for a group of ladies upon entering the tavern, which made Zoro scoff. Zoro, himself, opted to take a stool at the bar and ordered a beer. 

The mirror gave Zoro the opportunity to people-watch without having to turn his head. He watched his nakama having a good time and making new friends. The ladies had brushed Sanji off, and now Sanji was sitting at a different table, chatting with several young men, one of whom was wearing a cook’s apron with a toque embroidered on it. Zoro noticed more than one guy checking Sanji out in the tavern, including one at Sanji’s table. Sanji’s suit was different from anything anyone else wore, causing him to stand out. There was no question that Sanji was handsome. It was highly possible Sanji got laid at every port that allowed for extra time and Zoro wouldn’t know it. Sanji was obnoxious when it came to the ladies, but not when it came to men.

Zoro drank his beer and pretended he wasn’t feeling the faint stirring of jealousy when the definitely gay guy at Sanji’s table put his hand lightly on Sanji’s arm. Sanji glanced at the hand, then gave the guy a coy smile before turning back to his conversation. Damn it, Sanji flirted back. Zoro eyed the man. He was broad-shouldered, muscular, and had a deep tan. He likely did physical labor as opposed to training like Zoro. He had cropped black hair that appeared finger-combed. There was a bit of a gap between his two front teeth, which only served to make him better looking. 

Zoro grumbled into his beer. What the hell was he doing? He already knew that Sanji liked guys. And people should be into Sanji and Sanji should get to enjoy anyone who returned his interest. After what happened at Coralhaven and that betrayal of trust, getting out there again couldn’t be easy. Though if the locals on this island turned out to be another group of slavers, Zoro would lose all faith in humanity.

Sanji laughed at something one of the men said and Zoro turned his head away. Zoro was getting it bad. It was exactly like his first crush all over again. Hayashi Jun. A year older than Zoro, another student at the Isshin Dojo. Hayashi wore his hair in a traditional topknot and rarely stopped smiling. Zoro, who usually didn’t smile at anything, had found it entrancing. He’d spent the better part of six months working up the courage to say more than nice form and longer to offer him that lemon pop. Then, Hayashi started dating a girl from the village, Zoro’s crush-bubble had popped with the broken heart only a thirteen-year-old boy could get, and he eventually got over it. 

Zoro flicked a glance in the mirror and saw Sanji smiling and his knee pressed against the black-haired man’s knee beneath the table. Zoro downed the rest of his beer and ordered another. It was going to be a long night.

It took a whole lot of alcohol for Zoro to get drunk and he didn’t even come close. Sanji did disappear with the black-haired guy, and Zoro caught a ride back to the Sunny with Chopper, Usopp, and Franky. Franky volunteered to play delivery driver for the others, whenever they decided to return to the ship as the village didn’t have an inn. Zoro bit his tongue against the barbed comment of Sanji having other bedroom arrangements. He was getting pitiful.

Zoro cleaned up and went to bed, then tossed and turned for a while imagining what Sanji and the guy were getting up to before finally going to sleep. Then, Zoro dreamed about himself and Sanji getting up to those same activities that had plagued his waking thoughts and woke up with a hard-on that could hammer a nail into Adam’s wood. 

Zoro glanced over to the bunk next to his and saw Sanji, sound asleep. Apparently, the assignation hadn’t led to an overnight stay. Zoro was pathetically relieved and headed off with a clean set of clothes to take care of his erection in the bath. 

By the time everyone else started their day, Zoro had gone through a full workout and had a nap. He rarely slept long at night, going to bed around midnight and waking after a few hours. Naps throughout the day kept him well-rested. He could also sleep anywhere at any time, which helped. Sanji got up usually around five to start breakfast, which was on the table around seven. 

Breakfast was, as usual, both delicious and crazy. The crew laughed and talked over one another, Luffy tried to steal everyone’s food, Sanji danced around the table with practiced ease. Zoro watched Sanji’s smile and enthusiasm for providing refills and service while chatting amicably. Since Zoro was paying closer attention now, he could easily see how much Sanji loved feeding people. It wasn’t a chore or a job for him. His shoulders were relaxed, his face lit up, and his attentiveness was genuine. This was Sanji’s passion. It was what drove him every day. All Blue was the dream he hoped to find, but he lived to feed people. And if that was all Sanji ever did, if he wasn’t a fighter or a dreamer, Zoro thought that Sanji would still be happy. 

Zoro rested an arm on the table, guarding his plate from a sneaky rubber hand. He was using the chaos of breakfast as an opportunity to practice his observation haki to see if he could predict when Luffy would try to steal from his plate. Conversation floated around him as he munched on a sausage link. 

“I am planning to explore the underground caverns,” Robin was saying. “I have learned that stories have been passed down in the village that there should be secrets to be found.”

“Luffy-san and I are going out to Siren’s Rock,’ Brook said. “It is allegedly haunted by murdered mermaids of days past.”

“I want to find a ghost!” Luffy declared around the waffles chipmunking his cheeks.

“That sounds like an intriguing endeavor,” Jinbe said. “I believe I shall join you both.”

“If the choice is between death in an underground cavern and death by ghosts, I think I’ll spend the day exploring the beach,” Usopp said.

“We shall mourn when a sinkhole swallows you whole and you are never to be seen from again,” Robin said serenely.

“Why would you say something like that?!”

“I’ll go with you, Robin,” Chopper spoke up. He poured more syrup over his mound of strawberry pancakes with whipped cream and chocolate shavings. “Visiting caverns can be a stress reliever, surrounded by the quiet and beauty formed by nature.”

“Franky, would you like to go as well?” Robin asked.

“Can’t. Promised I’d help out with some ship repairs in the village,” Franky said, motioning in the general direction of the village with his cola.

“There’s a mapmaker in town that I’m going to visit today,” Nami said. “I want to compare my maps to his, see if I’m missing anything and if I can find a more detailed map of Sharktooth Cay.”

“Sanji-san, would you like to come with us to visit Siren’s Rock?” Brook asked. “Perhaps the ghostly mermaids will be topless.”

Sanji shook his head. “I have other plans.”

Fwoosh. Jealousy lit up Zoro like a searchlight. Luffy, Sanji, and Usopp all turned their heads in Zoro’s direction at once. “I’m going with Robin to the caverns,” Zoro deflected, even with the questioning lift of Usopp and Sanji’s brows. Zoro stabbed at another sausage on his plate and bit into it viciously. 

“You okay there, Zoro?” Usopp asked.

“I’m fine,” Zoro ground out. “You’re coming with us to the caverns.”

Usopp’s eyes widened. “I am?” 

Zoro speared him with a look. “You are.”

“Eh-heh-heh, guess I am.” Usopp cowered in his chair and focused his attention on his plate. “Luffy! That was my last sausage!”

“Shishishi.” Luffy grinned around the sausage sticking out of his mouth like a cigar.

Breakfast ended with Luffy stealing something from everyone’s plates, including Zoro’s after he’d gotten distracted by the stupid jealousy. They separated to clean up and go their separate ways. Franky volunteered for dish duty, since he was only heading into the village. Sanji gave Zoro a confused look at the glower Zoro shot at him before leaving the galley.

Within the hour, Robin, Zoro, Chopper and Usopp were underway, heading into the lush jungle on Golden Hook Island. Chopper, Usopp, and Robin wore small backpacks with bentos and drinks inside courtesy of Sanji. Zoro stuffed his in Usopp’s bag and cut off any protest with a dark look. Zoro carried the heavy coil of rope across his chest, instead.

Blue skies and gold-colored sand gave way to a green canopy and leaf-strewn jungle floor. Mosses and ferns grew in the undergrowth. Birds chirped to one another in the high branches. Vines wrapped around the thick trunks of ancient trees. Unseen animals rustled in the leaves. Pale green, unripened fruit hung from several trees. The freshwater spring carved a small stream through the jungle.

Usopp fell into step beside Zoro, his thumbs hooked in his backpack’s straps. Ahead of them, Chopper and Robin chatted about the flora of the jungle. “Hey, buddy, ol’ pal, ol’ Zoro,” Usopp ventured cautiously. “Now that we’re not around everyone else, is there anything you want to talk about?”

Zoro wanted to snap at Usopp, but he caught himself. Usopp was just being a friend. He took a deep breath and sighed loudly. “It’s stupid.”

“I will have you know that I excel in stupidity, so you have come to the right person,” Usopp joked. “I am Captain of Stupidity.”

A smile quirked one side of Zoro’s mouth. “Leader of an army of six thousand stupid men?”

“And women. And anyone in between,” Usopp said. “Captain Usopp’s Army is all inclusive.”

Zoro snorted softly. They continued to walk through the jungle, Chopper and Robin’s voices drifting back to them. A green snake draped on a tree branch, watching them lethargically as they passed beneath. 

“So… are you going to tell me what’s up?” Usopp prodded lightly.

Zoro’s lips pursed. Did he really want to talk about it? No. Was he going to anyway? “I got jealous that the cook had plans.”

Usopp’s brow furrowed. “That seems like an odd thing to be jealous of.”

“Told you it was stupid,” Zoro said, kicking at a branch in his path. A black beetle flew up and buzzed his ear in retaliation. Zoro swatted it away.

“Was it the plans, because you want to be doing them, or was it Sanji, because he’s doing them?”

Zoro immediately pictured Sanji doing “them” which only served to make the jealousy return. Damn it. He was trapped in the throes of a hormonal, teenage crush and he wasn’t a teenager anymore. “The cook can do whatever he wants. I don’t care.”

“So it’s Sanji doing other things,” Usopp pulled from Zoro’s response. Zoro grumbled at Usopp’s perceptiveness. “Hm, now why would that cause jealousy? Sanji does things on his own all the time. Did you want him to come with us?”

“Can we just drop this?” Zoro said, regretting that he’d opened up to his friend.

“But it’s bothering you,” Usopp said. He stepped over a fallen log. Ahead, Robin had used her Devil Fruit powers to pick a nut from a tree and give it to Chopper. “Wait a second, do you like Sanji?”

“No,” Zoro denied swiftly, even though he felt his ears heat.

Usopp’s jaw dropped. “You do! You like SanjI!”

“Shh!” Zoro clamped his hand over Usopp’s mouth, trapping him in a headlock. Robin glanced back but didn’t stop walking. “You don’t have to announce it to the world.”

“Erfralinme,” Usopp said against his palm. 

Zoro lifted his hand. “What?”

“You’re strangling me,” Usopp gasped, his face reddening.

“Oops.” Zoro released him. “You good?”

Usopp sucked in large gulps of air. “Captain Usopp has been strangled by worse and lived to tell the tale,” he said once he’d caught his breath.

They began walking again, keeping Robin and Chopper in sight. Zoro hoped Usopp wouldn’t say anything else, but of course he spoke, because needling was what good friends did. “So… you and Sanji.”

“There is no me and him.”

“But maybe you want there to be.” 

Zoro didn’t answer. Usopp grinned and began to sing, “Zoro and Sanji, sitting in a tree–”

“I will cut you.”

Usopp chuckled, because they both knew Zoro wouldn’t do it. “Are you going to tell him?”

Zoro shot Usopp a look. “Are you crazy?”

Usopp shrugged. “It’s possible he might like you back. I’ve noticed that you two have been spending a lot more time together not destroying the ship.”

Zoro noticed that Usopp hadn’t pointed out that Sanji liked women. Did Usopp know that Sanji was into men, too? Zoro wasn’t going to ask and accidentally out Sanji. “I’ve been trying to get to know him because it didn’t seem like he was close to any of us, you know?”

“Hm. Now that I’m thinking about it, you’re right,” Usopp said, scratching the side of his nose. “We’re spent a lot of time together, in groups, but we've never done anything one-on-one, like you and me or me and Franky.”

Zoro batted at a spiderweb that caught him in the face. The silken sticky strands tickled bothersomely. “I asked everyone and they pretty much said the same thing. Made me feel kinda shitty.”

“That explains that conversation,” Usopp commented. “I’d wondered why you had sudden interest in Sanji. You’d always treated him like a disease-infested fly on dog poo.”

Zoro hadn’t thought he’d been that bad. Had he? “I can’t have been that bad.”

“Well, no,” Usopp said, skirting around a fern reaching from between two trees. “But the animosity was at scary levels. Usually when you don’t like someone, you mostly ignore them, like Vivi or Conis. With Sanji, it was like hate at first sight. You were always antagonizing him.”

“Shit.” Zoro blew out an unhappy breath. 

Usopp patted Zoro on the arm. “Don’t worry, big guy. You can be hard to get to know. Your face doesn’t scream friendly pussycat–” Zoro shot him a death glare, and Usopp quickly amended, “--grizzly bear. Great, big, strong, ferocious grizzly bear. But once you let your guard down a little, you and I got our friendship going.”

Usopp was right. It took Zoro a bit to warm up to people, and it had taken longer to become close with the others on the crew. He talked about different things with different friends, but he wasn’t adverse to sharing about himself with them no matter who he was hanging out with. He had a great bond with his nakama and was developing one with Sanji, as well. Now this ridiculous crush was making him act weird. 

“Maybe it is meant to be,” Usopp suggested. Ahead, Robin helped Chopper hop over a narrow stream. 

“What is?” Zoro asked. 

“You liking Sanji,” Usopp replied. “Love and hate are two sides of the same coin, not opposites. Deep down, you might’ve liked him all along, more than you thought you should, and you freaked out because you didn’t want anything to get in the way of your ambition.”

Zoro eyed Usopp speculatively. “Sage Usopp’s words of wisdom?”

Usopp grinned and tapped the side of his long nose. “Sage Usopp is rarely wrong.”

It gave Zoro something to think about, as they joined Robin and Chopper on the other side of the stream. One thing he liked about Usopp was, for all his lies, he was great at ferreting out the truth. Zoro was glad they were good friends. Whether he was correct or not, Zoro didn’t know. What he did know was that he’d been treating Sanji shittily since Little Garden up until he got his head out of his ass at Coralhaven. 

Robin pointed ahead, where there was a break in the trees. “The cavern opening should be through there.”

Together, the four of them walked the remaining distance to the cavern opening. The trees opened up onto a rocky area, with a fissure splitting the ground. Robin pointed out the close distance to the stream. “It is likely this cavern was created by the freshwater springs that shifted location over time. Zoro, will you secure the rope for us?”

“Got it,” Zoro said, unlooping the coil from around his chest. He used one of the thick trees at the edge of the clearing to knot the rope around, then carried the rope to the hole before dropping it in. He watched as the rope started to unfurl before disappearing from view.

Robin removed headlamps from her pack and passed them out. They were miniature lamp dials secured to a headband. Zoro pulled his on, centering it on his forehead. The others did the same. Zoro went down the rope first, followed by Usopp, Chopper in Heavy Point, and Robin last. 

The cavern was damp, cool, and pitch black, save from the light filtering down to them from the fissure above. The rock walls appeared in the lamplight to be shades of brown, white, and pale green. The walls were moist to the touch and had a wavy texture from years of water erosion. The rocky ground beneath their feet was uneven and damp. They would have to be careful not to slip or trip.

Usopp rubbed his bare arms. “Brr! It’s cold down here.”

“What are we looking for, Robin?” Chopper asked.

“Secrets,” Robin answered. “I do not know what they will be. Perhaps thousands of severed heads preserved in time, or evidence of human sacrifices, or an ancient serial killer’s burial ground. Isn’t it exciting?”

“Your definition of exciting is scary,” Usopp stated.

“There will be remnants from other explorers down here,” Robin said. “The villagers I spoke with indicated that other visitors to the island have gone looking for the secrets. It has not been reported that anything was found, though.”

“We’re looking for old shit then, right?” Zoro said, shining his light around at the cavern walls and ceiling. Stalactites hung from the ceiling like ancient stone icicles.

“Hopefully, very old,” Robin replied. “Zoro, will you lead us? That way, if you get lost, it is our doing.”

Zoro shrugged. “Sure.” 

He set off down the singular path heading away from their entry point. The ambient light from above disappeared, leaving their own light sources as the four lamp dials. Zoro’s boots made wet sounds as he tread across the rocky ground. The cavern tunnel was narrow, a little wider than he was, but it was tall. 

Every noise they made seemed to echo along the tunnel – Chopper’s chatter, Usopp’s squeaks of fear, Robin’s soft laugh. Steady dripping resounded everywhere in the cavern. A low hum of air moving through the passage unscored it all. A faint, earthy scent tickled Zoro’s nose.

Zoro’s lamp dial headlamp cast a circular beam ahead of them, illuminating the side walls of the tunnel. He wove around stalagmites fastened to the ground, created by the dripping water from above. The colors remained the same, shiny tans and washed out greens. He hadn’t seen any evidence of creatures living down below, as of yet.

“What kind of animals are down here?” Zoro asked. They came to a sharp juncture where some rock had crumbled. He paused and a hand sprouted from the wall in front of him and pointed the direction to take. He followed that path.

“Bats, cavefish, salamanders, spiders, insects, and crustaceans,” Robin listed. “We may or may not see them, depending on when the last travelers were on this path.”

“Do the villagers come down here?” Chopper asked curiously.

“No. Occasionally adventurous youngsters will explore the caverns, but as they are hard to access, the villagers do not feel the need to venture down.”

Zoro had to tuck his swords down, suck in his gut and turn sideways to slide past a stalagmite in the middle of the path. He’d changed into a t-shirt before leaving the ship and the rough rock dragged across the front and back. Wetness was left behind on his shirt. “Franky wouldn’t have fit down here,” Zoro commented.

“He is likely more content to be helping fix ships,” Robin said. 

“Do you think Luffy, Jinbe, and Brook found any ghost mermaids?” Chopper said, following behind Zoro. Usopp came after him and Robin took up the rear. 

“I think Luffy found himself in the water and Jinbe had to fish him out,” Zoro said. Robin tittered. 

“Why does everywhere we go have to be haunted or scary or infested by bad guys?” Usopp complained. “Why can’t we visit nice places that give us cookies and milk and relaxation?”

“Sounds boring,” Zoro said. He reached another juncture and waited for Robin’s Devil Fruit hand to appear to guide the way. “You’d get soft, too. Lose your edge. Besides, danger makes you feel alive.”

“Danger makes me feel like I’m in danger,” Usopp said. “And I am allergic to danger. It gives me hives.”

“Usopp, there is a spider crawling on your shoulder,” Robin said. 

Usopp squealed and jumped around, causing his light to bounce all over the walls. “Get it off, get it off!”

Zoro glanced back to see Robin nudge a translucent white spider about the size of a coin from Usopp. Chopper watched the spider as it scurried up the wall. “So cool! It looked almost see-through!”

“You good?” Zoro asked Usopp.

Usopp held out his arm dramatically. “See, hives!”

Zoro shook his head and continued on. The path seemed to wind downward and the ceiling became lower. Zoro had to duck several times to get past massive stalactites along the natural tunnel. He wiped droplets of moisture from the back of his neck. The air in the cave was cool enough to cause goosebumps along his arms. 

They spotted their first evidence of past visitors, an old backpack that had been torn open by the rocks. The pack was empty, only its shell remaining. Chopper picked it up and stuffed it in his own bag. “No reason to leave it here,” he said in explanation.

The tunnels branched again, this time three ways, and Robin opted for the left path. Zoro kept going until they reached a narrow point that dropped nearly to the ground. He eyed the hole in the rock. He crouched and shined the light down the path. It didn’t penetrate far. He’d have to crawl on his stomach to continue on but it was doable. “Keep going or turn around?”

“Hm. It is possible others have turned around in the past and not explored beyond this point,” Robin said. “They may not have wanted to risk being crushed by thousands of tons of rock, their innards squishing from their bodies like paste.”

“Why do you say things like that?!” Usopp decried.

“I can go,” Chopper volunteered. “Maybe it opens up again.”

Zoro frowned slightly, but it was Chopper’s decision, not his. “Up to you.”

“I can do it,” Chopper said with a firm nod. Being as small as he was, he could crab-walk and disappeared into the low tunnel. Zoro spotted an ear and an eye on Chopper’s hat before he left, Robin keeping tabs on him.

They waited. Zoro folded his arms and lightly dozed against the rough, damp wall. Usopp checked on his hives. Robin watched and listened to Chopper. “He has reached the other side,” Robin spoke up. “It does widen again, though a far way down.”

“So we’re turning around, right?” Usopp said. Robin didn’t answer. “Right, Robin? Right?”

“He’s coming back,” Robin said instead of answering Usopp.

Chopper appeared a few minutes later, damp and a little dirty. “It’s okay, if we want to go through. The rocks are smooth enough. Zoro shouldn’t get caught on anything, being the biggest of us. It opens up into a regular sized tunnel again. I only went far enough to see that it continued.”

Zoro opened his eyes, glancing over at Robin, who contemplated what to do. “I would not be adverse to going on,” she said.

Zoro pushed off the wall. “Fine be me.”

“Oh, yes, let’s go through the tiny tunnel of death to find more death. Sounds like a blast,” Usopp grumbled.

Robin smiled. “It does, doesn’t it?”

“You frighten me,” Usopp told her.

Zoro pulled his katanas from his side and handed them to Robin. “Pass those through to me, will you?”

“Of course,” Robin agreed, cradling them.

Zoro dropped to his knees and then to his stomach. He began belly-crawling his way into the low, narrow tunnel beneath the rock. The rock didn’t scrape his shoulders or back, but it was a tight fit. The entire front of his body was getting wet from the natural moisture in the cavern. He used his elbows and toes to propel himself forward.

Usopp was following behind him, muttering at paste and how he didn’t want a flattened nose. The light on Zoro’s headband shifted from side-to-side with every crawl forward. He spotted a ghostly white salamander skitter over the rocks, away from him.

It was a long crawl before he finally saw the tunnel start to open again. It was highly possible that no one had been this way, due to the distance. Zoro traversed the last several feet before he was able to stand. He stretched as wide as he could in the tunnel. Even though the rock hadn’t been rubbing against him, it had still felt cramped.

Usopp stood up behind him and moved out of the way.  Chopper popped out next with an excited grin. “Made it!” 

Zoro’s katanas appeared next, carried by Robin’s Devil Fruit hands along the ground in front of her. Zoro took them back, sliding them into the loop at his side. He extended his hand to Robin when she emerged, helping her to her feet. “Thanks,” he told her.

Robin smiled at him. “It would not do for our swordsman to be without his swords, even here.”

The front of their bodies, save Chopper’s, were damp and grimy from crawling on the ground. Zoro took the lead again, exploring the new section of cavern. The air seemed thinner and colder. A deep, hollow moan seemed to fill the tunnel, as if the cavern itself was breathing.

“Wh-What’s that sound?” Usopp asked nervously.

“It is likely air passing through the chambers, reverberating against the rocks,” Robin said. “Unless it is a monster, with fangs and claws, waiting for us deeper within the cavern.”

“I think I’ll turn around now,” Usopp said, pivoting on his heel. Robin blocked his path.

“Don’t worry, Usopp, I don’t smell anything but moisture and decay,” Chopper reassured him. 

Zoro continued walking, taking the path that Robin pointed out when it diverged again. He knew she was keeping track of how they came with markings on the rock, so they could find their way back. He really didn’t want to be lost underground on Golden Hook Island for eternity. 

As he took another step forward, the ground seemed to shift slightly beneath his feet. He glanced down as a crack rent the air, and the ground split as quick as a whip between his boots back towards the others. There was silence for half a heartbeat, then suddenly the floor gave way.

Zoro spun around, grabbed Chopper, and flung him back down the corridor, past Robin’s head as she started to fall. Robin’s Devil Fruit hands formed a chain as the ground crumbled away, catching herself around the waist, her other arm outstretching with many clasped hands, reaching to snag Usopp by the wrist as he started to fall. Zoro met her terrified eyes for a second before he was plummeting into the darkness below. 

Wind whipped past his ears as he hurtled downward into the unknown. The light from his headlamp illuminated nothing. Zoro focused on his observation haki, trying to predict when he’d hit the ground. He seemed to fall forever, no longer able to see Robin or Usopp’s lights. When he sensed the ground coming, he tried to keep his body as limp as possible to distribute the impact force. 

Zoro slammed into the ground hard enough to make his teeth rattle and all his breath leave his body. The back of his head smashed like an egg against the rocky floor. Pain exploded in him for a bright, blinding instant before everything went dark. 

Zoro came to consciousness in serious pain. Absolutely everything hurt, even his eyelashes. He took a shallow breath, willing his eye to open. The headlamp was on the ground beside him, casting light upward. His blurred vision saw a pale angel with a bright halo descending from above, carrying a handheld harp, while hundreds of soft pink petals floated around it.

Zoro closed his eye and opened it again. The angel came into focus. It was Sanji, Sky Walking the last few feet to the ground, carrying Chopper’s medical bag. Sanji wore a headlamp around his head, along with a pale yellow shirt, untucked, and a pair of brown trousers. The petals had been Robin’s hand-ladder disappearing. Sanji landed lightly on the ground and set the bag down next to Zoro. 

“Thanks, Sanji,” Chopper said from above Zoro. He was holding something against Zoro’s head.

“Looks like your patient’s awake,” Sanji said. 

“Zoro!” Chopper exclaimed, not having noticed that Zoro had opened his eye. “Are you alright? Talk to me. Tell me what hurts.”

Zoro licked his dry lips, which hurt, and he murmured, “M’fine.”

Sanji snorted. “Idiot.”

“Will you hand me the gauze from my bag?” Chopper asked Sanji. Sanji nodded, reached into Chopper’s bag, and passed him the white roll. Chopper began winding it around Zoro’s head. Once done, he lowered Zoro’s head carefully. Zoro grunted as his tender skull touched the ground again. 

Chopper opened his bag, pulled out his stethoscope, and moved to Zoro’s side. He listened to Zoro’s heart and lungs. Zoro noticed an ear adorning Chopper’s shirt. Robin was listening in. “Heartbeat is steady, though elevated. Your lungs sound clear, which is good. It means nothing’s been punctured.”

Sanji crouched and pulled Zoro’s katanas from his side. “I’m going to bring these up to Robin. She’ll make sure they get back to the ship.”

Zoro was in too much pain to argue. “Okay.”

Sanji’s face was creased in a worried frown. He glanced at Chopper. “I’ll be right back down.”

“Okay, Sanji,” Chopper said, exchanging his stethoscope for a small rubber hammer from his bag. Sanji straightened and leapt into the air. He Sky Walked out of sight carrying Zoro’s katanas. 

“Zoro, I’m going to tap you with this hammer in different places. I want you to tell me if you can feel it,” Chopper instructed.

Zoro grunted in acknowledgment.

Chopper began at his feet, removing his boots carefully before tapping the sole of Zoro’s bare foot. “Do you feel that?”

“Yeah,” Zoro said. He’d fallen onto his back, not his feet, but Chopper was the doctor, not him.

Chopper repeated the tapping with the other foot, then against the front and back of each calf. Zoro felt them all. “Good,” Chopper told him. He set the hammer down and pressed his hooves against the bottoms of Zoro’s feet. “I want you to press your feet against my hands, as hard as you can.”

It hurt to do it, but Zoro complied. Chopper switched to the tops of his pointed feet. “Now, push up,” Chopper said. Zoro did. Chopper nodded. “Okay, good. Do you have any numbness or tingling in your feet?”

“No.” 

Chopper nodded again and moved to Zoro’s side. “It doesn’t smell like you lost control of your bladder. Are you having trouble breathing?”

“Not anymore,” Zoro told him. While he felt like he’d smashed into the floor falling from a far height, taking a breath only hurt if he did it consciously. 

Chopper checked Zoro’s hand, forearms, and elbows with the little hammer before shifting into Heavy Point and gently feeling around Zoro’s neck. Sanji reappeared, touching down without a sound. “How is he?” Sanji asked, and Zoro heard a concerned note in his voice. 

“No spinal injury that I can ascertain,” Chopper said. “Head fracture, possibly. At least, the skin was split open. That’s why there’s all the blood.”

“Blood?” Zoro was bleeding? It didn’t feel like he was bleeding.

“You look like you’re using a blood-pillow, dumbass,” Sanji said, crouching down again beside Zoro. 

“Head wounds bleed a lot,” Chopper said. “I’m going to do a quick check for broken bones. We’ll need to get you to the infirmary, Zoro, for a more thorough exam.”

“Told you, m’fine,” Zoro protested. His body felt like one big bruise and he dreaded the thought of moving, but he’d had worse. 

“Zoro, you fell over two hundred feet. You’re lucky you’re not a pancake, let alone not paralyzed,” Chopper said. “If it weren’t for your insane constitution, you’d probably be dead.” Chopper sniffed loudly.

Zoro felt bad. “Sorry,” he mumbled.

Chopper moved from his neck and began feeling over his shoulders, clavicles, and upper arms. He probed the front of Zoro’s ribs on either side before moving again to feel down his hips and legs. “Nothing seems to be broken in the front. Do you think you can sit up?”

Zoro pulled himself into a seated position swiftly and his head spun as agony shot through his body. “Ngh.”

“Don’t sit up so fast!” Chopper exclaimed, darting in to support Zoro. 

“You forget you’re dealing with a moron,” Sanji commented. 

“Why are you still here?” Zoro growled between pain-clenched teeth.

Sanji smiled mockingly. “And miss out on your display of idiocy?”

Chopper used his human-like hands to feel along Zoro’s vertebrae and back of his ribs. Zoro hissed, grunted, and winced when Chopper hit some exceedingly tender spots. “I can feel several broken bones in your back. Likely fractures, since you can still move. We’re definitely going to need the litter.”

“The what?” Zoro asked, closing his eye to try and sublimate the pain. 

“Your ride up,” Sanji told him. “Want me to check on their progress?”

“Actually, can you take me up?” Chopper said, changing back into his normal form. “I want to change it into a foldable chair rather than a board and we’ll use that instead of you or Robin carrying him up, so there’ll be less pressure on his back, just in case it’s worse than it seems.”

Sanji nodded. Chopper offered Zoro a pain reliever from his bag. “Take these. It’s going to be a while yet.”

Zoro accepted the medicine, along with the bottle of water Chopper had in his big bag. He also took Zoro’s lunch from inside and set it on the ground. Usopp must’ve given it to him. “Eat if you’re hungry, but make sure you drink a lot of water,” Chopper said, taking out a second bottle of water.

Zoro made a sound of agreement, washing down the pain reliever with the water. He hated being hurt. It reminded him that he was still infallible. Or fall-able, in this case. He huffed in amusement at his own inner joke, earning two questioning looks. He ignored them.

Chopper closed up his bag, but left it on the floor. “Okay, Sanji. Let’s go up.”

Sanji straightened and hefted Chopper into his arms. “Be right back, marimo,” Sanji said, and walked into the air as if it were solid ground.

Once they were both out of sight, Zoro groaned aloud from the pain he felt. He wasn’t about to let on that it hurt badly, especially his throbbing head. At least Chopper had only bandaged his skull instead of wrapping him up like a mummy. He wanted to lean back against something, but he seemed to be in the center of a small chamber. Chopper had removed the headlamp when he’d checked Zoro’s head. Zoro picked it up and shined it around. One side of the area was rock, like he’d seen throughout the cavern. To the other side, there was a hint of a giant face in the rock beyond what the lamp light could reach from his position. 

Zoro’s mind wanted to go see what the shadow was, but his body protested moving. Sanji took the decision out of his hands by landing lightly beside him. “What are you doing?” Sanji said sharply, when he saw Zoro start to move. “Hold still. We don’t need you getting hurt any worse.”

Zoro glared up at Sanji. “Are you going to stop me?”

“Do I need to?” Sanji asked with a pointed look.

Zoro blew out a breath and grumbled, “No.” He motioned with the headlamp. Even that small action hurt. This sucked. “Go and see what that thing is over there. The face.”

“Face?” Sanji turned to where Zoro indicated and surprise appeared on his features. He walked in that direction, his headlamp shining ahead of him, lighting up the other side of the small chamber. 

The light revealed a giant head carved out of the rock, with its forked tongue sticking out. It had a wide nose, squinting eyes, and no carved hair. It was taller than Sanji and took up a good width. The tongue lolled on the ground like a forked carpet, extended to Sanji’s feet.

“Ugly fucker,” Sanji commented, bending to peer inside the open mouth. He reached into it and tugged out a brittle-looking human skull. He showed it to Zoro, shining the light upon it so he could see clearly. “The mouth is full of them.”

“Robin’s going to want to see this,” Zoro commented. He tried leaning back on his elbows, but it made him hiss. He straightened up again.

Sanji set the skull down on the ground before returning to Zoro’s side. “What’s wrong?”

Zoro sighed. He didn’t bother lying. “I need to lean against something.”

Sanji glanced around, but then shook his head. “I’d rather not move you.” He walked behind Zoro and a moment later, Zoro could feel Sanji’s back against his own, supporting him. “That work?”

Zoro gave in to the temptation to rest his full weight against Sanji. Although it hurt, it felt much better than supporting himself. He inhaled slowly and let it go. “Yeah. Thanks.”

“Hn.” Zoro heard the snick of Sanji’s lighter and the acrid scent of cigarette smoke a moment later. “If I get blood on my trousers, you’re buying me a new pair.”

“Put it on Nami’s tab for me,” Zoro said, closing his eye. He willed the pain medication to work faster. “How’d you know I got hurt, anyway? Didn’t you have plans?” Zoro hurt too much to feel jealousy, though it still lurked in the background.

“Usopp came screaming into the village for Franky to get the keys to the Mini Merry,” Sanji said. “Me and the rest of the village came out to see what was wrong. Usopp explained you’d fallen, so I went back to the ship to get Chopper’s medical bag instead of him, took Usopp’s light, and came to help.”

Sanji’s ability to Sky Walk was a boon for the crew. “Sorry I interrupted your day.” Zoro tried to say it sincerely, but was secretly glad he might have interrupted sex.

Sanji brushed his words off. “We were having lunch, anyway.”

Damn, maybe they’d had morning sex. Zoro pinched the bridge of his nose. Thinking about Sanji’s sex life was making his headache hurt worse. He needed to stop obsessing.

Sanji’s back was solid against Zoro’s own. His cigarette smoke trailed overhead. “It’s cold down here,” he commented.

“That’s right, you don’t like the cold,” Zoro said, taking another long drink of water.

“No.” Sanji shifted slightly behind him. “I’ll survive.”

Zoro moved the bento beside him onto his lap. The mention of lunch made him feel slightly hungry. He flipped open the lid. Inside sat three onigiri wrapped in seaweed and mikan slices. Zoro picked up one of the onigiri and bit off the triangular tip. It was good, as always.

Zoro closed his eye again, leaning heavily against Sanji, slowly eating his onigiri. The pain had shifted from his whole body to primarily his head and back. He could probably get up and walk around, but if he was honest with himself, climbing a rope out of the hole he’d fallen into would be agony. He would have grit his teeth and done it if necessary, but they were working on a lift and he was going to accept the help. Once he was past the narrow part of the cave, he could walk on his own two feet back to the entrance, then get another lift to the surface. Chopper would be proud of him. 

The silence stretched on. Zoro ate a second onigiri, washing it down with water. Sanji’s cigarette burned out. The lamp light on the floor beside Zoro stretched toward the monstrous face but the shadows kept it and its gruesome secret hidden. The pain reliever started to work and he felt less like his head was going to explode. 

“I broke my back once,” Sanji said, breaking the quiet. “On Drum Island. Do you remember that?”

“No.” Zoro’s brow furrowed. “How did that happen?”

“Got caught in an avalanche. Cracked my vertebrae and my ribs. I couldn’t walk.” There was a hitch in Sanji’s voice that someone who hadn’t been getting to know him might have missed. “Passed out crawling over the snow with my elbows. Chopper and Dr. Kureha found me, operated, and patched me up. Chopper later took the metal pieces out that were anchored to my spine, after Arabasta.” He paused, lighting another cigarette, before continuing. “Seems like a lifetime ago. Now, I can be crushed to a pulp and I’m completely unaffected by it.”

Zoro was absorbing the information Sanji was sharing about himself when that last bit threw him for a loop. “Wait, what? Crushed to a pulp? That happened?”

“Hn, yeah. Queen,” Sanji said. “He turned into a boa constrictor and crushed me. Chopper told me later that all my organs were likely pulverized along with my broken bones. Broke my neck, too, apparently. But all it took was a bit of force and my body was back to its usual shape and I was likely fully healed internally within the five minutes or so I was running around.” 

“Shit.” Zoro was astounded. Sanji had told them about the modifications, but that was a factual description. This had actually happened to Sanji, and he’d survived unscathed. “Did it hurt?”

“At the time Queen was crushing me, yes. After Queen let go, no.” Sanji took a drag from his cigarette and the exhaled smoke floated over Zoro’s head. “Haven’t felt physical pain since. Germa science at its finest.”

Zoro frowned at the statement. “You don’t feel pain?”

“Not that I know of. The only way I can tell I’m still human is because of my emotions and one other thing,” Sanji said. “But otherwise, there’s… nothing but cold.”

The statement saddened Zoro. He couldn’t imagine what it felt like not to feel pain, as it was what drove Zoro to be better. Of course, he preferred not to get hurt, but pain also meant he wasn’t dead. “What’s the other thing?” he asked. 

Sanji fell silent. Zoro ate his last onigiri. Zoro didn’t want to call it a trick, as that implied deceiving Sanji, but Zoro had confirmed that the key to getting to know Sanji was to remain quiet. It gave Sanji the time to decide if and what he was going to answer. Zoro had a feeling that Sanji had few choices in his life until he joined the Straw Hat crew. Smoking was likely the biggest one he’d been able to make for himself. Sanji’s thoughts, opinions, or feelings about anything might not have been wanted, or he’d put on a show to protect himself. Zoro thought it was amazing that Sanji was as kind as he was, considering what Zoro knew about both his families.

Voices sounded from way overhead. Sanji stabbed out his cigarette next to them. Zoro didn’t think Sanji was going to respond to his question, but then he answered quietly, “It’s sex.” He shifted behind Zoro, as if getting ready to get up. “I’m going to see if they need a hand, unless you still need me?”

Zoro sat upright under his own power. “Go ahead,” he said, though he was disappointed that they’d been interrupted. This could have been an opportunity to learn from Sanji what Zoro already knew, so that Zoro didn’t feel like he was keeping a secret from Sanji. He also wanted to know if it was all sex or only certain types of activities. How much of Sanji’s body was that exoskeleton and how did it affect him that way? He’d masturbated in Zoro’s presence, so he had to feel something pleasurable in the action. Or did he? Zoro’s mind was spinning with doubts and concerns and it would probably drive him nuts until he finally got to talk to Sanji about it. 

Sanji Sky Walked out of the hole that Zoro had fallen into and he soon returned with Chopper in his arms. He set Chopper down and Chopper immediately went to Zoro’s side. “How are you feeling?”

“Okay,” Zoro said, which was true. “The pain meds kicked in. My head still hurts but not as badly. My back only hurts if I move.”

Chopper nodded thoughtfully. “Your head injury seems to be more severe. I’ll know more once we get you back to the ship.”

“Who knows, marimo?” Sanji began with a smirk. “Maybe you knocked a sense of direction back into your brain” 

“Ha! Ow.” It hurt to laugh, but it was a great jibe.

“The lift will be down soon,” Chopper said. “We’ve rigged up a pulley system to make it easier to get you out, since Franky doesn’t fit.”

Zoro understood that Franky’s strength would be needed to pull him up and, between Franky and Usopp, Zoro had no doubt he’d be out of the caverns and back in the jungle in no time. 

“I’ll help from this end,” Sanji added. 

Zoro nodded. He finished his mikan slices and closed the lid on the empty bento, which he gave to Chopper. Chopper packed it away, as well as the empty waters. A glance above showed a litter being lowered by a rope into the hole. 

Chopper toddled over to it when it reached the ground and flipped a lever. The board transformed into a seat with an upright back. There was an ear on the back of the seat. “Robin, pull it up about three feet, please. Sanji, will you help Zoro?”

Sanji circled behind Zoro, slid his hand beneath Zoro’s armpits, and murmured in his ear, “Put your feet flat on the ground and push upwards.”

Zoro did as told and with minimal jostling he was on his feet again. Sanji supported him beneath the shoulders, being cautious not to squeeze too tight or too low. The chair had raised three feet from the ground, allowing Zoro to sit easily while Chopper in Heavy Point steadied the chair. Zoro wrapped his hands around the ropes holding the arms of the chair upright. 

“Okay, Robin, tell them they can start pulling,” Chopper said. 

The chair began to lift a moment later. Sanji stepped behind Zoro and wrapped his hands on either side of the edge of the chair, beside Zoro’s thighs. Zoro could see his arm muscles bulge as he assisted with lightening the load. He Sky Walked with Zoro to the top. Hands sprouted when they reached the lip of the hole and helped tip up the footboard before placing the chair on solid ground.

Robin unfolded her arms. “I’ve told them to stop,” she said, as her other helping hands disappeared in a shower of petals. She bent beside Zoro and embraced him gently around the shoulders. “I am glad that you are alive.”

“Too stubborn to die,” Zoro told her gruffly. 

Robin straightened again with a small smile. “Let us keep it that way,” she said. She used the lever on the chair and carefully lowered Zoro into a lying position, once he’d moved his arms onto his lap. 

“I’m going to get Chopper,” Sanji said, and dropped back into the hole. 

Robin closed her eyes as a moment as she communicated to those outside. “They’ll pull you through the narrow opening, but in the meantime...” Feet appeared beneath the litter, to walk him along the path. 

“There’s something in the hole you’ll want to see,” Zoro told her, as the litter began moving across the ground. “A giant head statue carved into the rock, with skulls inside it.”

“The secret,” Robin said with understanding. “Though I would have preferred to find it under less exciting circumstances, I shall examine it after we take you safely back to the ship.”

Sanji and Chopper appeared on the path behind her. As a group, they made their way out of the cavern with minimal problems, due to the help of Zoro’s friends.

Zoro was stuck in the infirmary overnight, but there wasn’t much Chopper could do for a fractured back other than let it heal. The damage wasn’t bad enough to require surgery, like Sanji’s had been on Drum Island. Zoro’s muscle mass and the fact that he’d gone limp helped to negate the damage. His skull had been fractured, but Chopper hadn’t found any swelling. He stitched Zoro’s scalp closed and told him not to bump it again. At the rate his body healed, he’d be fine within a week. Sadly, his sense of direction hadn’t returned.

Robin examined the giant head in the cavern and determined it was an ancient place of worship. She found a few inscriptions carved into the skulls within the mouth. She placed everything back as she found it and informed the villagers of their discovery. It would be up to them if they wished to do anything further about it.

The Thousand Sunny left Golden Hook Island on a bright, sunny morning, setting sail for the Mogaro Kingdom. Luffy, Brook, and Jinbe hadn’t found any ghosts at Siren’s Rock, and Luffy was disappointed he didn’t get to fall into a hole, but everyone was happy to get underway again. Zoro behaved himself – mostly – by concentrating on training that didn’t involve his back until it felt fully healed. He ditched the head bandage the first day, much to Chopper’s consternation.

Distances on the Grand Line varied log pose point to log pose point. Some you could reach within a day or two, others took weeks. There were also dozens of smaller islands, if not more, along the way. 

The Whispering Isle was one such place, a tiny speck barely visible along the log pose route. Like Coralhaven, sailors had to be paying attention to spot it. And like Coralhaven, Usopp had noticed it while working at his branch office on the upper deck of the galley. 

“If there are more slavers here, I will never point out another island again,” Usopp said solemnly, as Jinbe set course for the island. 

“If there are more slavers, we should be going,” Luffy declared, punching his hand into his opposite fist.

“Here, here!” Franky agreed.

They needn’t have worried, as The Whispering Isle was a small, uninhabited island of rolling hills of wildgrass, twisted driftwood, and a low fog that drifted along the ground like mist. The coastline rose on the far side of the island, becoming a jagged cliff. Low walls and foundation ruins outlined where people once lived. The Sunny anchored nearby and they ferried themselves to the isle on the Mini Merry II. 

Wearing shorts and a blue t-shirt, Zoro poked along the waterfront, following the curve of the island. Crabs darted between the rocks on the shore. Starfish nestled in tidepools. Pipers darted toward and away from the waves that washed upon the rocks. Soft clouds drifted across the sky overhead. The warm air coming from the ocean rising over the island created the misty fog that twined around the rocks and through the wildgrass.

A glint of green glass caught Zoro’s eye and he bent down to one of the tidepools. Wedged between two tide-slicked rocks was a glass bottle. Zoro pulled it out. It looked like an old wine bottle that lost its label. The stopper filled the neck. There appeared to be a rock of some sort rattling inside. 

Zoro uncorked the bottle and dumped the item onto his palm. It was a rock, dark gray in color veined with pinkish lines. It was heart-shaped. Strange thing to stick inside a bottle.

“What’d’you have there?” Sanji asked, coming up beside Zoro. His hands were in his pockets, a cigarette dangling from his lips. He’d dressed casually, too, in a loose fitting pink floral shirt, black shorts, and sandals. Behind him, further down the coast, Luffy was chasing gulls while Chopper and Usopp splashed in a larger tidepool. The others had wandered off to explore the rolling hills.

Zoro showed him. “Some kind of carved rock.” He was surprised to see Sanji. He’d thought the blond had gone off with the girls. 

Sanji peered at it thoughtfully. “Basalt with quartz running through it. It’s common, but hard to carve. Odd to find one in that shape.”

“It was in this bottle.” Zoro showed him the green wine bottle, still in his other hand. “Think it means something?”

Sanji shrugged. “Could just be a pretty rock.”

“Maybe.” Zoro pocketed it and peered in the bottle in case he’d missed something. He had. “Hey, there’s something else in here.” He turned the bottle upside down and banged his palm against the base. A curled piece of paper dislodged from the bottom, having been hidden from the outside by the thicker green glass of the base. He jiggled the bottle until it reached the top, but couldn’t figure out how to get it out of the neck. 

“Break the neck off, idiot,” Sanji said with amusement. 

“Heh.” At times, Zoro was an idiot. He carefully snapped the neck off the bottle, leaving a jagged edge on either side. He dumped the paper into Sanji’s hand. “What’s it say?”

“Give me a minute to unroll it, dumbass,” Sanji said. He uncurled the inch-long piece of paper, browned slightly from age. He frowned when he read it. “It says Find the heart.”

“Didn’t we already find it?” Zoro said, referring to the rock. 

Sanji shrugged. “Maybe. Wouldn’t make sense to leave this note with it, though.”

Zoro set the broken bottle between two rocks, turning the neck upside down within the head. He’d pick it up on the way back to the ship. “Maybe there’s a second heart.”

Sanji tucked the note into his pocket. “Perhaps.”

“Want to find out?” 

Sanji took a drag on his cigarette, removing it from between his lips. He looked out over the ocean a long moment before nodding. “All right.”

Zoro was curious about the hesitation, on top of Sanji having joined him to begin with. He continued walking in the direction he’d been initially heading before he’d stopped. Sanji fell into step beside him, hands tucked into his pockets again, smoke trailing in the breeze. He didn’t seem tense or bothered by something, but with Sanji one never knew. Zoro still felt like there was so much to learn about him, that he’d barely scratched the surface. 

“Something up?” Zoro put out there, as they walked along the shoreline. Waves sent sprays of water into the air nearby, which caught on the breeze, sprinkling them with a cool mist. The weather was warm, the island located in a summer climate. The ocean air currents kept it from being too hot.

“Hn. No.” Sanji stepped around a tidepool. “Watch your step.”

Zoro avoided the spikey urchin that had washed up onto the rocks. He didn’t press. If Sanji wanted to talk, he would eventually. Zoro just had to give him time to decide if he wanted to or not. It could be that nothing really was up and the vibe Zoro was getting was in his head. 

A cloud drifted across the face of the sun, casting them in shadow. The island curved and climbed, the rocks growing larger. Zoro kept an eye out for another glass bottle hidden between the boulders. He hopped upward, jumping from rock to rock, being careful not to slip on the wet stone. 

The wind rustled through the wildgrass nearby. Several birds took flight from the rolling field. Zoro thought he spotted Franky in the distance, further inland. He wondered if they’d found anything interesting on their exploration.

“My mom died today,” Sanji broke the silence between them, his tone melancholy. “Or around today. I don’t know the exact date. I didn’t find out until about a week later that she’d died. I’ve been thinking about her recently and I remembered that it was around now.”

The reveal made Zoro’s heart hurt. “I’m sorry,” he said sincerely.

Sanji shrugged. “It was a long time ago.”

Zoro knew Sanji wouldn’t have brought it up if it still didn’t matter. “What was she like?” 

Sanji jumped onto another rock, as they rose higher along the shoreline. The waves were further below. “Pretty, warm, kind. Always happy to see me.”

Zoro’s heart still hurt. Sanji probably hadn’t had many people who’d been happy to see him in his life. “Did you get to see her often?”

“No.” Sanji inhaled on his cigarette, the cherry brightening, before he expelled the smoke as he continued. “She was sick. I was able to see her maybe once every two weeks or so, if I could sneak away.”

Vinsmoke Judge’s experiments. His lab tests. Zoro clenched his jaw briefly, but forced the rage away. Now was not the time for anger. “I’m sure she was happy to see you, too, when she could.”

A small smile curved the side of Sanji’s mouth. “She said she was. I’d bring her something I’d cooked and she’d tell me it was the best thing she’d ever tasted. She was lying. It was crap. I was only five when I started.”

They continued to climb. “Five? So you’ve always wanted to cook,” Zoro said.

“Yeah. Always. It’s… I don’t know. Not in my blood, obviously. My mom was never a cook, even before she’d married. Or so I heard.” Sanji hopped onto a rather large boulder and paused to look out over the ocean again. “Maybe it’s because I didn’t like to see anything going hungry. I used to feed the mice in the castle. Had one that came to my bedroom for a while until my father threw it out the window, four floors up.”

The more Zoro heard about Sanji’s father, the more he hated the man. “Sorry,” he sympathized, because what else was there? 

“Doesn’t matter,” Sanji brushed it aside, even though, to Zoro, it obviously had mattered. “Feeding people, or animals, always made me feel like I was doing something kind and helpful, and it made them happy. I clung to that feeling, even through all of Judge’s shit.”

Zoro noticed Sanji didn’t say it made him happy. “You seem to like taking care of others, making sure they’re happy,” he said. “What about you?”

“What about me?”

“Are you happy?”

Sanji went silent again. It shouldn’t have been an answer that required thought. It saddened Zoro that it did.

They climbed some more, the boulders getting larger and farther apart. Waves crashed against the cliffs far below. A cloud blocked the sunlight again. Overhead, a lone hawk circled in the sky.

Zoro needed to use his hands to pull himself onto the next boulder. Ahead of him, he could see that the cliff flattened and jutted out onto a point. A raised rock stood at the tip of the point. Zoro headed in that direction.

Sanji finished his cigarette, crushing it beneath his heel. He pocketed the butt. The breeze tousled his blond hair, briefly revealing both eyes. “To answer your question, I suppose I have been, mostly. Up until that stupid wedding invitation, things were going pretty well. I’d say that I’m happy being part of the crew.”

It was an answer and non-answer at once. “I’m glad that you’ve been happy being part of the crew,” Zoro said, “but are you happy yourself? Like, with who you are, and stuff?”

Sanji went quiet again, though it wasn’t as long as previously. They approached the edge of the cliff, where a rock with a flattened top was raised above the ground. “The changes with my body have been difficult to adjust to,” he admitted. “Some days are very hard. It’s been… nice not being alone with my thoughts all the time in the galley, like I used to be.”

Zoro had been right, about the isolation, and he felt a small bloom of warmth that his presence in the galley had been beneficial in more ways than one. 

The ocean stretched for miles in the distance with nothing to break its dark blue plane until it dipped over the horizon line. The raised granite rock in front of them had a wide, flat surface, as if it were an altar or table. In the center of the granite was a cutout in the shape of a heart. Zoro was surprised. He hadn’t known what to expect by the note, but it wasn’t this. 

Zoro glanced at Sanji, who shrugged, and Zoro pulled the heart-shaped rock he’d found in the bottle from his pocket. He slotted it into the cutout. Almost immediately, the rock sank slightly and there was a grinding sound. A portion of the flat surface of the granite rose, where Zoro had thought there were natural fissures in the rock, revealing a hollowed out area filled with items.

Zoro reached in and pulled out an old comb. He set it aside. The next thing he pulled out was a quill, followed by a small mirror and a fishing hook. “Is this supposed to be a treasure or something?”

“It’s Hart’s Treasure Box.” Sanji suddenly sounded excited. He began eagerly removing more items from the hollow. An earring, a wrench, a necklace of beads. A polished rock, a thimble, a snail shell. Many scraps of paper, folded or rolled, which he was careful not to let blow away.

“Hart’s Treasure Box?” Zoro asked, confused.

“You haven’t heard of it?” Sanji put the papers back into the hollow and removed a small spyglass. “An old cook told me about it, on the Baratie. He was a former pirate on the Grand Line, like Zeff. Stayed with us for a few months before he moved on. I thought it was a legend.”

“What’s the legend?”

“A pirate named Hart was said to have created a treasure box on an island only the adventurous could find. But it was a different type of treasure box. If you find it, you’re supposed to leave something in it, to prove your adventurous spirit.” Sanji was smiling widely. “And we found it!”

Zoro thought it was weird, but Sanji’s smile was infectious. “So, we’re supposed to leave something?”

“Yes. It can be anything, but it shouldn’t be garbage because that defeats the purpose.” Sanji stuck the items they’d taken out back into the hollow in the rock. “That’s why some people leave notes, because they don’t have anything else to leave.”

Zoro didn’t have anything in his pockets and they’d have to go back to the ship for paper. He watched Sanji for guidance. Sanji finished putting everything back, and then he pulled his gold lighter out of his pocket. He ran his thumb over it and was about to put it in the hollow when Zoro said, “Wait.”

Zoro pulled the bandana off his arm, folded it twice, then reached for Sanji’s lighter. Sanji gave it over. Zoro wrapped it within the bandana’s folds, tying it closed. He handed both back to Sanji. “Now people will know that we were adventurous together.”

Sanji lowered his eyes to the wrapped lighter, his expression becoming soft. He brushed his thumb over the bandana. “Together,” he repeated with a warm note in his voice. “I like that.”

Zoro’s heartbeat picked up as he watched Sanji place their contribution into the hollow. Sanji removed the heart-shaped rock from the cutout and the rock-lid closed over the treasure box. The granite rock appeared to be a flat surface, once again. 

Sanji looked out over the ocean, the breeze whipping his hair, a small smile on his face. Zoro couldn’t take his eyes off Sanji. His chest filled with an expansive sensation that he’d never felt before. His palms tingled, and he had a powerful urge to pull Sanji into his arms. 

Sanji glanced at him, the smile still on his lips. “I’ll have to get a new bottle from the Sunny, so we can leave the rock and note for someone else to find.”

Zoro cleared his throat and rubbed the back of his neck. He felt heat bloom on his cheeks. “Okay.”

“C’mon, marimo.” Sanji turned away from Hart’s Treasure Box and began walking back the way they came.

Zoro took a shaky breath, pulled himself together, and followed.

The Thousand Sunny arrived at Mogaro Kingdom to find a marine armada. They wisely opted to swing wide, furled the sails, set anchor, and sent Jinbe with the log pose to sit beneath the fleet near the island for it to set.

The mid-day sun warmed the colder temperatures the change in climate zone brought with it, but everyone was deep into their activities elsewhere. Nami and Robin had absconded to the library to work, while Usopp and Franky were in their respective workshops below. Luffy, Brook and Chopper were playing a game at the table in the men’s quarters. Zoro had finished cleaning up after his workout and headed through Chopper’s infirmary to reach the galley.

Zoro pushed open Chopper’s door to find Sanji leaning on his elbows against the prep counter, his hands gripping his hair. Sanji straightened swiftly, dropping his hands when he heard the door. His expression was neutral, but Zoro saw tension in the brackets of his mouth. He seemed to relax when he saw it was Zoro. “Oh, it’s you.”

Zoro’s brow arched in question. “Something going on?”

Sanji blew out a tight breath and his hand crept up to tug at his hair again. “I thought you were one of the others. They’ve been sitting in here all week.”

“Is that a problem?” Zoro knew they’d been in the galley. He was the one who’d found Usopp, Chopper, Nami and Robin on the deck shortly after they’d left The Whispering Isle and pointedly mentioned how nice it used to be when they’d all gathered in the galley instead of always being elsewhere while the cook worked. The expressions of chagrin were almost immediate. They understood what Zoro was telling them. They likely had mentioned it to the rest of the crew.

“No,” Sanji said swiftly. Zoro didn’t believe it for a second. He crossed the galley, rounding the bar into the kitchen, where Sanji stood. He noticed that food prep had been halted midway, which wasn’t like Sanji. It appeared as though he’d been making cookies, the wet ingredients sitting in a bowl with a hand blender in it, the dry ingredients set to the side. 

“Hey, talk to me,” Zoro pressed lightly. He pulled his katanas from his hip and set them on the bartop before washing his hands. 

Sanji, of course, didn’t say anything at first. He rested his elbows on the prep counter again, gnawing on his lower lip, still tugging at his hair. His shoulders were a tense line beneath the blue shirt and darker blue vest that he wore. Zoro thought it was progress that Sanji was allowing him to see the distress. Sanji knew how to put on a false front, had started to when Zoro had first entered. 

Zoro picked up the hand blender and began stirring the wet ingredients. He’d seen Sanji do this several times now, sitting with him in the galley while Sanji worked. He knew the ingredients should be fully blended and look mostly smooth. It was already partially blended, though he could still see the yellow of the eggs.

Sanji cut a glance at him but didn’t comment. His fingers slowly released their grip on his hair. “They’re in my space,” he finally murmured.

“I’m in your space,” Zoro pointed out.

“Yeah, but I don’t care about you.”

“Ouch.”

Sanji huffed. “You know what I mean.”

Zoro continued to stir, making sure to turn the stuff off the bottom to the top. “Why does it bother you?”

Sanji inhaled and blew out a slow breath. “Because I need to wait on them and I’m not getting anything done.”

Zoro’s brow furrowed. “Why do you think you need to wait on them?” 

“Why else would they come in here?”

Zoro stopped stirring to stare at Sanji incredulously for a moment. “Because they’re your friends and maybe they want to spend time with you.”

Sanji went quiet again.

“Please tell me you know that they’re your friends,” Zoro said, concern flaring. 

“Of course I know.” Sanji’s hands inched towards his hair again. 

“Then what’s wrong with them being here? We used to sit in the galley with you all the time, back on the Merry. You didn’t seem to have a problem with it then.”

“I went from the Baratie to the Merry. I was used to people always being around,” Sanji said. “But then we got the Sunny and everyone had somewhere else to be.” Zoro heard the small hitch of hurt in Sanji’s voice, which vanished into offhandedness. “It’s been years. I got used to being alone.”

Zoro hated that it had happened, hated that all of them abandoned Sanji, even inadvertently. “Why’d you let me be in here, then?”

“Because I didn’t like you.” Sanji buried his hands in his hair fully and pulled. “It was easy with you. I could ignore you and it didn’t matter. You weren’t going to get upset with me.” His voice grew a panicked edge, sounded strained. “I don’t know what to do about this. I’m not going to tell them to go away, but then I might not get any work done. Maybe if I stay up later, prep more, then I’ll have the time to sit and listen.”

Zoro couldn’t let this go on. Sanji was really worked up over this. “It’s my fault. I told them to come and visit you more often.”

Sanji turned his head to look at Zoro from between his hands, his face creased with confusion. “Why would you do that?”

“Because I thought that you were lonely, being in here by yourself all the time,” Zoro said. “You know why I started to hang out here with you? Because I realized that I didn’t know you, at all. And everyone I talked to didn’t know much about you, either. And it’s wrong, of all of us, to have sailed with you for this long and not even know why you like to wear suits or what you like to do when you’re not cooking or what you did those two years that we were all apart. I’m close to a lot of people on this ship and it pains me to know that you don’t have that type of relationship with our nakama.”

Sanji studied Zoro a moment longer, then turned his face away again. He fell silent. Zoro forced himself to return to the cookie dough when Sanji didn’t speak again. He picked up the dry ingredients, added a portion of it to the bowl, and used the hand mixer to stir it in. He did a little at a time, like he’d seen Sanji do, mixing it until everything from the dry bowl was blended into a thick dough. There was a cup of pre-measured chocolate chips sitting at the ready and he folded those in. 

“I have a hard time letting people in,” Sanji said when he finally spoke again. He rested his forehead on his hands, looking down at the counter between his elbows. “I’m afraid of finding out that Judge was right about me. That I’m… not worth it.”

Zoro hated that man. “You let me in, and I damn well think you’re worth it.”

“Tch. You don’t even like me.”

“I like you.” Too much. “And if I have to, I will tell you every day that you’re worth being my friend.”

Sanji glanced sideways at him. “Your friend, huh?”

“Yeah, your friend,” Zoro said. “Get used to it.”

Sanji pressed his palms briefly against his eyes, drew in a shaky breath, then dropped his hands and straightened. He reached over to yank the bowl away from Zoro. “Give me that. The chocolate chips should be spread out evenly throughout the dough, not clumped on one side.”

“Oi, give me a break. This is my first time mixing cookie dough,” Zoro said, relieved to see Sanji pull himself together again. 

“You did… okay,” Sanji admitted. “I’m going to mix it through one more time to be certain there are no clumps.”

Zoro waved his hand royally. “Be my guest.”

“Tch. Idiot swordsman.”

“Picky cook.” Zoro folded his arms, leaning against the counter. “You want me to tell everyone to leave you alone again?”

Sanji paused while mixing. “I… no. Well, maybe the ladies. I can try to work while the others are here.”

“Okay. But if you change your mind, let me know.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Sanji said dismissively. “Grab your sake and go sit on the other side of the bar so I can finish.”

Zoro was glad Sanji wasn’t kicking him out. He retrieved the sake from the unlocked fridge and went to sit where told. 

By the time the cookies were baked, Zoro had learned that Sanji started wearing suits to impress the ladies on the Baratie, but found that he liked the way they made him feel more confident about himself. Zoro liked knowing that it was another choice Sanji had made for himself. Plus, he always looked damned good wearing them.

Zoro remembered Sanji standing nakedly before him, back in Coralhaven, all confidence, fire and power. 

He looked damned good not wearing suits, too. 

The fight actually started between Zoro and Nami. Nami had her map spread out on the main deck lawn, weighted down with rocks, determining the distance to their next log pose destination. It had been three weeks since Jinbe had returned with the set log pose from Mogaro Kingdom. They were getting closer to the Red Line and Mysteria Island with each passing day. The climate had shifted from autumn to winter to early summer in the course of those three weeks. 

Shirtless after a post-training nap, Zoro had been horsing around with Luffy on the deck when Zoro had stumbled onto Nami’s map. Nami screeched bloody murder and the two of them got into a shouting match about it. Nothing unusual. Then, Sanji appeared, kicking Zoro across the deck into the men’s quarters’ wall in defense of his Nami-san and a real fight got underway.

It was the first full-out fight they’d had in a while. They’d had a handful of spats, short things that barely got the blood pumping. Zoro drew two katana, coated them in haki, and launched himself across the deck. Nami gathered her map, yelling at them both for bothering her. Zoro shoulder-checked Sanji into the deck tree, causing its branches to shake leaves onto the lawn. Sanji used the tree trunk as a brace to kick both feet up and into Zoro’s stomach. Zoro blocked at the last second, but the power behind the kick sent him skidding backwards across the lawn.

Sanji leapt into the air, intending to bring the base of his heel down on Zoro’s head. Zoro blocked using one katana and sliced Sanji's thigh with the other. He turned the blade at the last second to catch Sanji with the blunt side. Zoro would never hear the end of it if he sliced through Sanji’s clothes. It was also more difficult to change attacks at the last second than it would be to simply fight normally. The challenge of it was great training.

Sanji pivoted in mid-air after the hit, clocking Zoro across the cheek with the toe of his shoe. Zoro’s head whipped to the side and he had to rotate his jaw to pop it back into place. He knew Sanji wasn’t using his full strength. Zoro would be spitting out teeth if he were. 

As Sanji went to land, Zoro dropped to a knee and sliced the air quickly, sending an energy wave at him. It buffeted Sanji right off his feet, sending him flying toward the port side rail. He caught himself with a foot against the rigging, using it as a rubber band to slingshot him back at Zoro. Zoro rolled forward beneath Sanji’s flying kick, twisting to smack him again, this time on the ass.

“Oi!” Sanji shouted, dropping to the main deck. Zoro grinned as he jumped to his feet. Sanji’s pride was hurt, Zoro could tell, because Sanji flew at him in a series of ultra-quick kicks that he barely blocked. He kept getting pushed backward, toward the side rail. Zoro might be physically stronger than Sanji, but Sanji was a lot quicker, which meant they were evenly matched. It came down to luck or time as to who won when they were fighting.

Zoro back hit the rail, which meant he was out of room unless he went overboard. The Sunny was sailing at a fast clip. He’d hate to have to get rescued by Jinbe in order to catch up to the ship. Zoro started spinning his blades in fast circles, creating a whirlwind that buffeted Sanji away from him again. Sanji went up into a Sky Walk – which Zoro felt was cheating – and aimed a double-kick towards Zoro’s head again. 

Zoro jumped into a forward roll across the deck lawn. Sanji’s shoes cracked against the rail loud enough to cause Franky to shout from wherever he was, “Don’t damage my ship again, stupid super bros!”

Zoro was on his feet again, running away from Sanji, up the steps toward the galley deck. With a fast jump, he nabbed the rails around the upper deck above the galley and hoisted himself over. Nami’s mikan trees stood in raised beds on this deck, as did Robin’s garden. Usopp was sitting at his branch office. Zoro used the height to launch his own type of Sky Walk, by leaping off the upper deck with a double overhand strike at Sanji two decks below. 

Sanji backflipped out of the way, but Zoro still brought his blades downward, creating a double-energy whip that lashed across the deck and bisected Sanji with a nonlethal force that sent him smashing back into the foremast, causing it to shudder. Zoro landed on the deck, ignoring his other nakama, as he bolted forward again toward Sanji. Sanji pushed himself to his feet at the bottom of the foremast, looking disheveled and annoyed. A blackened streak marred his untucked pink shirt and a portion of his dark gray trousers.

Zoro skidded to a halt in front of him, sending up tufts of grass, one blade at his throat, the other pointing at his side. He knew Sanji could easily knock both away or vanish with superspeed. Instead, he stood there, seemingly at Zoro’s mercy, defiance in the tilt of his chin. 

But his eyes… fuck, they were darkened with lust, pupils dilated and fixated on Zoro’s bare torso. Zoro was instantly, insanely aroused. He sucked in a sharp breath, hands trembling slightly where they gripped the katanas’ hilts. 

I’d always thought you’d fuck me at the end of one of our fights, but you’ve never made a move… Sanji’s words from months ago came forth in Zoro’s memory. Zoro hardened beneath his trousers. His breathing quickened. The world seemed to narrow to just the two of them. 

But then reality intruded with a loud splash and Luffy’s cackle of laughter. Zoro knew they were not alone, that Sanji’s sexuality wasn’t public knowledge, and he would never hurt Sanji like that. So instead of doing what he wanted to do, which was push Sanji up against the foremast and kiss him until they both could no longer breathe, he simply told Sanji, “I’m gay.”

Sanji seemed to come back to himself, stiffening and looking around quickly, locating the rest of the crew who were out on deck. “Why are you telling me that?”

Zoro slid his katanas back into their sheaths. “Because I want you to know.” While it wasn’t a secret, he’d never stated it. And if Sanji was ever going to come out to him, Zoro needed to do the same.

Sanji appeared wary and agitated. He fiddled with his unbuttoned collar. “I have to start lunch,” he said and hurried off, not stopping to change out of his ruined clothes. 

Zoro watched him escape to the safety of his galley, took a deep breath, and released it slowly. He spotted Usopp standing at the rail of the upper deck at his branch office. Usopp smiled at Zoro, his thumbs hooked in his overalls like a proud papa. Zoro scowled at his nosy friend and went to go jerk off in the shower before someone commented on the tent in his trousers.

Mysteria Island loomed in the distance, shrouded in dark clouds and a thick fog. The wind had picked up, bringing with it a biting chill that seeped through tiny openings in heavy coats. Lightning illuminated jagged peaks that rose ominously from the fog. The unseen craggy coastline reportedly had narrow inlets and sharp rock formations that made approach by ship dangerous. Usopp and Nami stood side-by-side in the Crow’s Nest, with binoculars and the telescope focused in the direction of the island. The Crow’s Nest was a circular room perched on the foremast. Windows opened in every direction, providing optimal views of the sea. A bench ran along the entire room, which doubled as Zoro’s training area. A metal carpet covered the floor. Zoro’s weight-lifting equipment filled the majority of the room, along with his storage locker and a place to hang his towels.

Zoro was currently bundled in a thick sweatshirt and dangling in a flexed-arm hang using his fingertips outside one of the open windows. Sweat coated his brow and his body was shaking from exertion. He’d been hanging there for a while, building up his strength in his arms and fingers. Scaling buildings happened much more than he ever thought it would as a pirate and momentum only took him so far up before he needed to use his hands. 

“Are you sure we can’t go somewhere else, preferably where it doesn’t look like we’re going to meet our doom?” Usopp asked Nami. 

“No.”

Usopp sighed at the short answer. “I believe I am coming down with a case of Do-Not-Want-To-Die-Itus.”

“Stop talking and keep looking. Sharktooth Cay should be visible from the island,” Nami said.

“We’re not at the island yet,” Usopp pointed out.

“Do you want to land on Mysteria first?”

“Uh, no. Nope. We can see fine from here,” Usopp quickly replied.

Zoro could see them from the open window, his chin being held above the sill. “Do you think it’s storming at Sharktooth Cay, too?” he asked.

“Likely,” Nami said. “The thunderstorm is localized, but it’s wide. If the island is within visible distance from Mysteria, it is probably beneath the clouds.”

“Great. Cold and wet,” Zoro groused. He wasn’t a fan of either. Sanji would be miserable. He’d been outside as little as possible since the change in climate. 

It had been less than a week since Zoro had told Sanji that he was gay. During that time, Sanji made a concerted effort to disappear whenever Zoro ventured into the galley outside of mealtime. Zoro couldn’t fault him. Zoro had put his sexuality out there and now Sanji had to decide whether or not to do the same. He didn’t need Zoro staring at him expectantly in the meantime.

“Oh, crap,” Usopp said and sighed loudly. “I see it.”

“Where?” Nami said excitedly, swinging the telescope.

Usopp, using the binoculars at the next window over, directed her. “See the peak that looks like Kaidou with one horn?”

“Where… wait, I see it,” Nami said. 

“Drop straight down until you hit the top of the fog, then follow it to the left. You should see a short, dark hump just visible above the fogline.”

Nami was quiet as she followed his instructions and then she squealed with glee. “I see it! Crimson Vault, I am coming to plunder you!”

“How long til we get there?” Zoro asked from his window across the room.

Nami stepped away from the telescope and studied the weather outside. “I’d say about two hours, three tops, depending on if we try to skirt the storm or push through it.”

That meant Zoro could continue to hang outside for a while longer and still have time to clean up before he’d be needed. Sanji would likely have them eat an early lunch before they reached Sharktooth Cay. Best to go adventuring on a full stomach, especially if they ran into trouble. Zoro bet that a treasure island located in a cold, stormy, fog-thick region was ripe with danger or intrigue. Right up the Straw Hat’s alley.

Nami opted to skirt Mysteria Island’s storm instead of going through it, as the fog hid dangerous obstacles they wouldn’t see until they were almost on top of them. The Sunny still got lashed by the rain, wind, and fierce waves as they approached Sharktooth Cay from the side. The crescent-shaped island was surrounded by jagged reefs and the visible shipwrecks dashed upon them. The sky was inky black, with rolling thunderclouds that lit up with fingers of purple-tinted lightning. Usopp pointed out that he could see the ruins of a former settlement and a rotting dock stretching from the cay. Twisted mangrove trees rose up out of the shallows, roots like skeletal fingers, creating natural archways. Bald cypress was visible further inland, tall, straight trunks with reddish bark, draped in long strands of Spanish moss.

The Thousand Sunny anchored some distance from the cay. The crew gathered in the galley, to eat lunch and go over Nami’s plans for them. “We know from the legend that there should be hints to the vault scattered around the island,” Nami said between bites of bean salad. “We don’t know how many there are, though, or where to find them.”

“Since it’s Red Jack’s treasure, would it make sense to concentrate on his house?” Chopper said. He reached for another serving of tortillas stuffed with chicken and covered in chile mole and chocolate sauce. 

“If we can find it,” Franky said from his spot on the couch. “This place looks long abandoned.”

“It would make the most sense to search the settlement first,” Robin said. “There is a likelihood that one clue would lead to the next.”

“Isn’t it possible other crews before ours have found the clues and made off with the treasure?” Brook said.

Nami glared at Brook. “No one had better have stolen my treasure!”

“Are we going to wait for the storm to subside before venturing over?” Jinbe inquired. 

“I’m going to try to break it after lunch,” Nami told him. “If I create downdrafts that become stronger than updrafts, I can cut off the supply of moist air that fuels the storm and it should break it up.”

“We should probably bring the gear to stay on the island overnight,” Franky said. “It’ll be too risky to take the Mini Merry back and forth more than we have to.”

“I’ll pack everyone a bento and a thermos of warm tea to take with, and bring the supplies for quick campfire meals,” Sanji said, weaving around the table, taking empty plates from those who were finished. 

“Is anyone staying on the ship?” Zoro asked around his bite of spicy chicken tortilla. 

“I shall,” Jinbe volunteered. “I can swim to the island if necessary, to warn you of any incoming dangers.”

“We can probably make it over to the cay in two trips, if we squish,” Franky said, replenishing a cola. “Robin, Nami, Usopp, Chopper, Luffy, and Sanji can go first. Then if Usopp or Sanji brings the Mini Merry back, me, Zoro, and Brook and the driver can go over with the gear.”

“I’ll do it,” Sanji said. “I can swim better than Usopp if something happens.”

“It’s settled then,” Nami said. “Let’s finish lunch and then go and find my treasure.”

Nami was successful in using her Clima-Tact to break up the thunderstorm above the cay, revealing blue skies and sunbeams that shone upon the shores. Shartooth Cay had dense coastal forest of mangroves and bald cypress. Jagged cliffs rose up behind the trees, casting long shadows over the small island. The ruined settlement was clearly visible, partially sunken buildings and rubbled houses dotted the shore.

The weather was still cool and everyone dressed appropriately, even Luffy who put on a red hoodie but didn’t change out of his shorts or sandals. Zoro wore his olive-green long coat and red sash, but he’d thrown on a black t-shirt underneath. Nami and Robin wore trousers with hoodies, like Luffy. Brook wore vibrant layers. Franky exchanged his short-sleeved shirt unbuttoned shirt for a long-sleeved unbuttoned shirt. Usopp threw on a thermal shirt beneath his overalls. Sanji wore a soft-looking, golden, hooded-sweatshirt over his usual black trousers and black shoes. Chopper gleefully changed into even less clothing, happy about the cold. 

The crew made their way to the rotting dock Shartooth Cay and gathered at the base of the settlement. Franky picked the ruins of a building that still had most of its walls and roof to set up camp. The former stronghold of the Bloodtide Brotherhood was made up of rotting wood and crumbling stone. Part of the stronghold had submerged, the ocean flowing through broken, second-floor windows and over the peaks of roofs. Several lookout points still stood, shrouded by vines and lichen. An old windmill rose in the distance, visible above the trees.  The native shrubs and bushes grew wild from the muddy ground between buildings, taking over the land once again.

Mosquitos buzzed in the air as everyone split up, with promises to reconvene at the camp once it grew dark. Zoro knew that someone would go with him, to prevent him from getting lost. He hadn’t expected it to be Sanji. Usually the two of them separated when exploring, each of them sticking with one of their more vulnerable crewmates. Did that mean Sanji wanted to talk?

Sanji led the way down the rocky former street between ruined buildings. They were headed in the direction of one of the lookout points. His hands were tucked casually in his pockets, a cigarette between his lips, like usual. The cooler weather ruddied his cheeks. The ground was slick and muddy underfoot from the storm. Crimson-hooded Bloodcrest parrots pierced the air with sharp calls. 

Sanji didn’t say anything and neither did Zoro. Zoro was content to walk and examine their surroundings. He didn’t have a plan on what part of the settlement to look into, but Sanji seemed to be taking them in a specific direction. The others had scattered around the coast and toward the interior of the settlement. He and Sanji were headed toward the sunken portion, which made sense as they both could swim and were unaffected by Devil Fruit. They’d have to strip down, though, before going into the water. Walking around in wet clothes in the cold would suck.

But stripping down meant nudity and nudity meant Zoro would likely get an erection. He was trying – and failing – not to picture Sanji’s powerful naked body in his mind. A body he desperately wanted to touch, as long as it didn’t ruin their friendship. 

That was a sticking point for Zoro. Now that he had a close relationship with Sanji, he didn’t want to lose that just to get his rocks off. Sanji meant something to him, and with how hard Sanji found it to get close to people, Zoro didn’t want that taken away because of a casual fling. The Grand Line was populated with men to have sex with, but there was only one Sanji.

Sanji exhaled a trail of smoke, dodging around an armored Reefwalker crab the size of a dinner plate scuttling between the ruins. The ground grew squishier the closer they got to the sunken part of the settlement. Large dragonflies flitted between the reeds that clustered beside buildings. Sunlight streamed from between the broken storm clouds, bringing out the gold in Sanji’s hair. 

“Remember when I told you that I only feel like I’m human still because of my emotions and one other thing, back in the cave you fell into like an idiot?” Sanji said without any preamble. Zoro had been right about Sanji wanting to talk. 

“I didn’t fall into it on purpose,” Zoro said. “But yes, the other thing was sex.”

“Hn.” Sanji shifted his cigarette from one corner of his mouth to another. He inhaled on it, held the smoke in for a long moment, before exhaling with a rush of smokey words, “It’s gay sex.”

And there it was, the truth Zoro already knew, out in the open now. “I take it you mean as the receiver,” he said, keeping his tone casual. He didn’t want Sanji to shut down the conversation. 

“Uh… yeah.” Sanji’s shoulders hunched beneath his golden hoodie. “It’s… it’s the only sex I can still feel.”

Zoro cut a quick look at Sanji. Sanji’s expression was tense but also sad. “Don’t you masturbate?” Zoro said, even though he knew the answer. Zoro had seen him do it.

“It doesn’t… there’s nothing there.” Sanji pulled in further on himself. “It’s just motion until I come. Chopper said the nerves are still being stimulated even if I don’t feel it. I still get horny and the orgasm itself is the same.”

Zoro felt awful. How can a guy live like that? The pleasure that came with jerking off or fucking someone was one of the best parts of being male. “But gay sex, being penetrated, that feels good?”

“Yes.” 

“Did you only start sleeping with guys because of the modifications?” Zoro would hate it if Sanji felt forced to have sex with men simply to feel. Too much of his life had been beyond his choice.

Sanji didn’t answer right away. He took a drag on his cigarette. Another Reefwalker crab crossed their path, staring at them with its beady eyes. A fire-tailed monitor scrambled along a ruined rooftop, knocking rubble onto the ground nearby. Midges swarmed around a standing puddle of water.

Zoro saw the street slope downward ahead, disappearing beneath the encroached sea. Water lapped around the edges of buildings, growing deeper as the remains of the settlement progressed. There appeared to be five buildings beneath in the water, three on one side of the street and two on the other. The lookout point rose up from the sea at the far end. The two farthest buildings were completely underwater, with only their rooftops showing. The other three were in various stages of submersion.

Sanji stopped walking when the water lapped the toes of their shoes. He looked out over the sunken ruins. “I’m not exactly well-endowed,” he began speaking again, his tone low. “I stopped having sex with women after a few tries because I was a disappointment once we got to that point. A guy hit on me one night at the Baratie and I had been feeling really shitty about myself that day, so it felt good that someone was interested in me. I let him fuck me and I enjoyed it enough to try it again. Turns out most men don’t really care about your dick size if they’re the ones doing the fucking. Women still turn me on, but I’ve been sleeping with guys exclusively since I was eighteen.”

Zoro’s heart ached for Sanji. “You must like it, though, or you wouldn’t be doing it.”

“Of course I like it, dumbshit.” Sanji dropped his spent cigarette on the ground and crushed it out before pocketing the butt. “I’m not a masochist. Did I enjoy sleeping with those women? Yes, even if they didn’t. But I like men, too. Especially now.”

Zoro knew he had to bring up one more thing, so the only secret Zoro still knew was that Sanji had an interest in him. “The Pietros? Back on Coralhaven?” 

Sanji’s lips thinned. “It’s not often that I go for multiples, but when getting fucked is the only way to still feel human, it was great basically having nonstop sex for hours.” He glanced at Zoro with a small furrow in his brow. “Did I tell you about them when I was out of it?”

Zoro didn’t lie. It wouldn’t be fair to Sanji. “Yeah. You mentioned having sex with them, which had surprised me. That Cortez woman was the one who said there were a number of brothers.”

“Hn.” Sanji looked out over the sunken ruins again. “Why didn’t you say anything?”

“Not my place,” Zoro said. “I’ve also ended up on the wrong end of a near-fatal beating for mentioning someone was gay, remember?”

“I remember.” Sanji sighed. “It’s shitty that happened to you.”

“Is that why you hide it?” Zoro asked, genuinely curious. 

“No. My… enthusiasm for women would make it hard to explain and be accepted.”

And Zoro knew Sanji didn’t share easily. Still… “You know that you could paint yourself orange, walk around in a tutu, and insist that everyone call you Guido and none of our nakama would bat an eye, right?”

Sanji snorted. “That is true.”

“I get it, though,” Zoro told him. “I haven’t flat out told anyone on the crew that I’m gay, except for you.”

Sanji looked surprised. “I… thank you for telling me, then.”

“Thank you for telling me, too,” Zoro said, and meant it. “If you ever need a shipman to help set you up… don’t look at me. I suck at that kind of interaction.”

A chuckle fell from Sanji’s lips. “You probably just stand there looking like a hulking brute and guys hit on you.”

Zoro grinned. “Pretty much.”

“Good thing you don’t have to talk to fuck, or your braindead ass would never get laid.” Sanji put his hands on his hips and eyed the water. “Looks like we’re going to get wet. I have a lamp dial, so we’ll be able to see. I say we go to the farthest one out and work our way back.”

Zoro shrugged. “Fine by me.”

They stripped down, leaving their clothing and boots inside the partial ruins of what appeared to be a tannery. Zoro hid two of his katanas in the sleeve of his long-coat, taking Wado with him. Both naked, they waded into the warmer water of the ocean than the ambient air temperature. The water provided somewhat of a barrier that helped Zoro not get hard. They swam to the far end of the sunken street on the surface before diving down to enter the ruins.

Sanji led with the lamp dial, which Zoro kept an eye on so as not to get lost. They both could hold their breaths for quite a while. The first building appeared to be a storehouse on the edge of the settlement. Broken metal crates, barrel hoops, and rubble was strewn about the single story building. They shifted through the sunken debris, not finding anything that might lead to a vault or referenced Red Jack.

They surfaced for air between the buildings, then dove back down to the next one along the street. A metal door hung by a single rusted hinge beneath the water. Sanji swam inside, with Zoro following. The lamp dial illuminated what might have been a tavern. Bottles floated near the ceiling, trapped without escape. The bar was no longer, having been ravaged by the water over time. Rusty metal screws and support plates lay on the ground where wooden furniture may have been. Two empty doorways led beyond the main room. The first opened into a kitchen, with metal appliances still standing at the ready. An unhappy eel surged at them from an opening in the stove.

The second doorway led to a possible bedroom for the tavern owner. A metal bed frame sat empty on the stone floor. Fish swam around a skeleton’s ribs where it sat in a corner, a sword sticking out of its gut. A metal ring was set in the stone floor on one side of the room. Zoro swam over to it once Sanji’s light highlighted the ring, braced his feet wide, and pulled. The floor opened up into a stairwell, leading downward.

Sanji swam down first, lighting the way. Beneath the bedroom was a cellar. Remnants of tavern stock floated at the ceiling or had been eaten away to only metal barrel hoops. Sanji found a small, rusted, metal chest, tucked beneath the remains of a shelving unit or rack. He motioned with Zoro with his head for them to surface.

They swam out of the tavern to the street. Zoro hoisted himself onto the roof of the sunken building, then reached down to take the rusty chest from Sanji. Sanji lifted himself from the high water onto the roof’s edge. Zoro used the kashira of his katana to bust the rusty padlock. He flipped open the lid. Inside was a stack of papers, a pile of beli, and a book of some sort.

Sanji withdrew the book, while Zoro sorted through the papers. The papers appeared to be IOUs and tavern-related documents. Nothing important. Zoro stuffed them back into the chest. Nami would be happy about the beli, at least.

“This is a logbook,” Sanji said, an excited note to his voice. Zoro glanced over at him, as he flipped through the pages. “Specifically, a logbook from The Widow-Maker, Captain Red Jack Crane’s ship. Written by Red Jack himself.”

“How’d it get in a tavern cellar?” Zoro wondered.

“Maybe he was the guy in the bedroom,” Sanji said. “Or it could’ve been stolen during the mutiny. We need to get this to Robin-chan.”

Sanji put the book back into the chest, along with the lamp dial, and Zoro closed the lid. Sanji tucked the chest under his arm and, together, they jumped across the rooftops of the submerged buildings, being careful not to fall through the crumbling stone. Once they’d reached dry land, they descended to the street again, redressed, and headed back to camp.

They were the first ones to arrive and they set up the gear that had been stacked into a corner of what appeared to be a former dock warehouse. The partially open ceiling and non-existent windows allowed a fire ring to be built inside. Zoro set up their tents, which they’d obtained long ago from Arabasta. They were made from woven goat hair, supported by poles and guy ropes. The rectangular two-man – or one Franky – tents were strong, durable, and waterproof, perfect for both wet and dry conditions. 

Sanji began preparing a meal for when the others returned. Zoro opted for a nap. When he woke up, the delicious scent of roasted meat filled the former warehouse and the sun was beginning to set. Sanji was seated near the fire, occasionally turning the meat speared by long skewers. He was reading the logbook. The fire highlighted the angles of his face and tinted his hair with the colors of sunset. He looked comfortable in his golden hoodie, his sleeves pushed up, revealing the fine blond hairs on his muscled arms. 

He must’ve made a sound, or Sanji was simply very observant. Sanji lifted his gaze from the logbook and a warm smile graced his lips. Zoro felt the expansive sensation in his chest again, as if his heart was suddenly growing too big. “About time you woke up, sleepy marimo,” Sanji said. “I need more firewood. Get enough to last the night.”

Zoro rolled to his feet, fighting the urge to tell Sanji how good he looked in the firelight. He grunted instead and left the warehouse to go and chop wood.

By the time he was done, most of their nakama had returned to camp. Voices overlapped as they shared their adventures of the day. Zoro retrieved the last of the cut wood from the mangroves surrounding the settlement. The glow from the fire in the warehouse enabled Zoro to not get lost. He nodded to Franky, who was dragging a rubber-stretched Luffy by the torso, Luffy’s arms and legs somewhere else. 

“Ne, Zoro, tell Franky to let go!” Luffy said. “I want to check out that cave!”

“Tomorrow, Luffy,” Franky said. “We agreed to meet by sundown.”

“But Franky…” Luffy whinged.

“Sanji’s cooking meat,” Zoro spoke up, carrying the cut logs behind the two. “You can probably smell it by now.”

“Meat?” Luffy started sniffing the air, and his arms and legs slingshot back to his sides. Franky released him and Luffy went running toward the warehouse near the shore. “Sanji! Give me meat!”

“Thanks, bro,” Franky told Zoro, taking some of the wood from him. Together, they joined the others at their makeshift camp.

Robin, Zoro saw, was already engrossed in the logbook. Sanji was fighting off Luffy, while Chopper and Usopp regaled Brook with their mini-adventure. Nami was freshening up in a tent. Zoro and Franky added the wood to the pile Zoro had made and joined the others around the fire.

“The Reefwalker Crabs attacked en masse,” Usopp was saying, pretending his hands were pincers. “With a bloodthirsty look in their beady black eyes, they swarmed over the walls of the ruined former house we were exploring. I, Captain Usopp, and his trusty First Mate Chopper, had nothing to defend ourselves but our wits!”

“I’m not your First Mate, asshole!” Chopper danced and clapped. “I don’t like being called that at all!”

Zoro plopped down beside Robin and nudged her with his shoulder. “Find anything interesting?”

“In the settlement, no,” Robin said. “It appears you two were the only ones with the luck. As for the logbook, Sanji filled me in on what he has read so far. It is, indeed, Red Jack Crane’s logbook about daily sailing life and the exploits of the Bloodtide Brotherhood. He includes details every time the pirates stopped at this stronghold over the years.”

“He might mention the vault, then,” Zoro surmised. 

Robin nodded with a smile. “It is a possibility. I shall stay up to read it. It would not do to keep our navigator from her treasure for long.”

Zoro chuckled. “We found some beli in the chest with the logbook. If the vault turns out to be a bust, at least that’s something.”

Robin hummed in agreement and went back to reading. 

The crew ate dinner, chatted, played a game of cards with the deck Chopper had in his backpack, and eventually went to bed. Robin stayed up, as she’d indicated, reading the book by the fire, keeping it lit with the firewood Zoro had chopped. The warmth from the fire, plus the excitement of the day, took its toll on everyone. Zoro got stuck with Luffy and prepared to spend the night fending off grabby hands and biting teeth. 

Zoro was already awake when Sanji got up to start breakfast. Robin had gone to bed about two hours ago, having finished the logbook. Luffy was trapped in a headlock, snoring into Zoro’s armpit. Zoro released him before getting up himself, exiting the open tent. He nodded to Sanji and headed outside to use one of the other buildings to take a leak. 

Sanji had tea brewed and Zoro settled by the fire with a cup as Sanji cooked breakfast. Another campfire meal of skewered meat, beans, and toasted bread. Most of the crew still had their bentos, which would hold out for the day. Luffy had eaten his and Franky’s and Sanji was creating new ones for them. 

By the time everyone was awake and refreshed, breakfast was ready. Zoro and Sanji hadn’t spoken beyond a request for more tea and to grab a few pieces of firewood, but that was okay. Zoro was content to sit in silence with Sanji while Sanji worked. 

“Well?” Nami prompted Robin, as Sanji served the plated food. “What did you find out?”

“That there is, indeed, a vault somewhere on Sharktooth Cay,” Robin said with a satisfied smile. “Red Jack mentions excavating it himself on one of his forays to the stronghold.”

“Excavating? That means it’s underground,” Franky said, replenishing his cola from the supply he’d brought.

Robin nodded. “I agree. The logbook does not mention where it is located, but it points to The Widow-Maker for our next clue. Listen to this.” She opened the logbook to a page she had marked and read, “The Widow-Maker’s been sunk by the damned mutineers. My vault key went down with the ship. Blasted pirates. No one is getting any treasure now.”

Nami vibrated with excitement. “So there definitely is a treasure!”

“If The Widow-Maker was sunk, how are we supposed to find the key?” Chopper asked, digging into his breakfast.

“It must be around the cay,” Usopp surmised. “There were a lot of sunken ships on the reefs.”

“And if the logbook is on land, it must mean that the ship was here when it sank,” Brook agreed. “How thrilling! We have discovered the location of a second clue.”

“How do we find the ship, though?” Zoro said in between bites of toast. “Like Usopp said, there are a lot of shipwrecks in the bay.”

“I’ll Sky Walk back to the ship and get Jinbe,” Sanji suggested. “I would like to bring more food over to the island, anyway, and pans to cook in.”

“Yaha! And then Jinbe can swim and find the ship and the key for us!” Luffy snatched a piece of meat from Zoro’s plate and shoved it in his mouth with a toothy grin. 

“Luffy!” 

“Shishishi.”

“I’ll head over after you guys finish eating,” Sanji said. Zoro had finally figured out that Sanji ate while he cooked, not full meals like the rest of them, but decent-sized pieces of whatever he made that added up over the day. He also hid a dozen cookies for himself whenever he baked and sneaked them when he thought Zoro wasn’t paying attention. 

“Sounds good, Sanji,” Franky said. “While you’re there, will you grab another couple of colas for me? Someone drank mine yesterday.” He shot Luffy a glare.

“I was thirsty!”

“Of course,” Sanji replied. Zoro bet that Sanji would also take a shower and change after having swam the saltwater yesterday. 

They finished breakfast and Sanji departed after things were cleaned up. Luffy declared that he still wanted to explore the cave, even though the next clue was in the water, and he, Franky, Brook and Chopper departed together. Usopp hung behind with Nami, Robin, and Zoro. “I am adventured out,” Usopp declared, collapsing beside Zoro in his tent.

Zoro had brought his sword cleaning kit with, in case he needed to care for his blades. Having submerged Wado in salt water filled that need. He sat with the katana on his lap, carefully dusting the blade with uchiko powder. “Too many crabs?”

“Way too many crabs.” Usopp pulled a stick from the pocket of his overalls and a switch-knife from his pouch. “I shall have nightmares about killer crabs for months.”

“Beats nightmares about killer worms from The Whispering Isle.”

Usopp groaned. “Don’t remind me. Those worms were huge. As big as Luffy. No, as big as Franky. They writhed out of that hole when Luffy pushed that boulder down the hill.” Usopp shuddered. 

Zoro smiled in amusement and continued cleaning his katana. Usopp settled in to whittle. 

“Sooooo…,” Usopp drew out, “...any news on the liking-Sanji front?” Zoro shot Usopp a glare. Usopp held up his hands with the stick and the knife clasped in them. “I am asking as someone concerned for his friend’s happiness.”

Zoro grumbled. When Usopp put it that way, it was hard to tell him to butt out. “I told him that I was gay.”

“Aha! And what did he say to that?”

Zoro wasn’t about to share Sanji’s confidences. He went with the truncated version of their conversation. “He thanked me for telling him.”

Usopp leaned forward eagerly. “Aaaand?”

“And what? That was it,” Zoro said, exchanging the cotton ball for a rag to wipe down the blade. 

Usopp slumped. “Oh.” He patted Zoro sympathetically on the back. “Well, he does go stupid over the ladies. Maybe if we put you in a dress…” Zoro's sharp-toothed growl had him quickly amending his words. “...or not. You don’t have the legs for it, anyway.”

“I don’t have breasts, either.”

“Well…”

Zoro latched his hands around Usopp’s throat, who squealed and begged for mercy. 

“Noisy boys should stop being so noisy!” 

Zoro and Usopp froze, looking in the direction of Nami’s yell in fear.

“And if you ask me or Robin to borrow a bra, Zoro-kun, we will be happy to provide one.”

Zoro felt his face go up in flames. Usopp sniggered. Zoro's head slowly turned to face Usopp with murder in his eyes. Usopp screamed as Zoro began choking him again. 

Nami came in a moment later and beat them on the head with her Clima-Tact. 

Jinbe showed up around lunchtime, wearing a toothy grin. “I have obtained the key.”

“Gimme!” Nami launched herself at Jinbe, snatching the key from his hands. 

“Was it difficult to find?” Robin asked. They were settled around the fire again. Sanji had returned roughly thirty minutes ago, ferrying what appeared to be half the contents of the storeroom in a large pack. He had showered, as Zoro had predicted, and was now wearing a cable-knit blue sweater the color of his eyes. Zoro was having a difficult time not staring and he elbowed Usopp hard every time Usopp poked him teasingly in the side. Usopp apparently had a death wish.

The cave exploration group was still gone, leaving the five of them – now six, with Jinbe – for lunch. Sanji had set up a cooking station over the fire, complete with pots, pans, and some weird folding metal thing that Sanji stuffed bread, chocolate, and marshmallow into and out popped gooey cakes. Usopp and the girls oohed and ahhed over them. Zoro didn’t like chocolate and Sanji hadn’t offered one to him.

“It took time to locate the correct ship,” Jinbe replied, settling beside Robin on the stone floor of the former dock warehouse. “After that, it was rather simple to find the Captain’s quarters and conduct a search. Much of the wood within the room had rotted away. The key was located within the remains of the newel post of the bed.”

Robin smiled, pleased. “I am gratified that it was not an arduous task.”

Sanji offered Jinbe a marshmallow cake to tide him over until lunch was served. “What do we do next?” he asked Robin.

“If Nami will permit me to study the key…,” Robin inquired, holding out her hand.

It appeared that Nami was going to say no, clutching the key to her chest. “I’ll get it back?”

“Of course,” Robin promised. 

Nami handed it over. “This better point to my treasure.”

Robin held the thick key up in the light. The sunshine from the partially broken ceiling combined with the firelight allowed them to see it was an intricate key, with multiple bites on the blade and distinct keyway. The bow of the key had something etched on it, too small for anyone but Robin to see.

“It appears there is a boar’s head etched onto this key bow,” Robin said, tilting it more toward the firelight. Her dark hair fanned her face as she looked downward to study it. “It is an amateur job, not a professional one. Perhaps done by Red Jack’s own hand.”

“Another clue,” Usopp suggested. “Unless Red Jack just really liked boars.”

“I wonder how the legend about clues came about,” Robin said. “It is unlikely that Red Jack shared that with anyone. The logbook had not been touched. The entry about The Widow-Maker was a small one in between many more.”

“Well, the Bloodtide Brotherhood knew there was a treasure because it was theirs to begin with,” Nami said. “The mutiny might have been over Red Jack not sharing.”

“Perhaps the former members of the Bloodtide Brotherhood believed that Red Jack would have left clues to its location and the legend stems from them,” Jinbe suggested. “They may have returned, could not find any clues or the treasure, and passed the information onto their children, and so on until it fell into legend.”

“That is a strong possibility,” Robin agreed. 

“So what do we do? Look for a place that has boars?” Zoro said. 

A smile grew across Robin’s face. “That is exactly what we do.”

Nami wanted to leave immediately, but everyone convinced her to wait until after lunch by refusing to go. Nami sulked. Sanji fed her more marshmallow cakes for comfort. 

Sanji opted to stay behind at the camp in case the cave explorers returned and wanted lunch. Usopp decided to remain as well. Zoro shot Usopp a deadly look, to which Usopp pretended to lock his lips shut. If Zoro didn’t know he could trust Usopp, he’d be dragging the long-nose sniper with them whether he wanted to go or not. 

Robin, Nami, Jinbe and Zoro left the settlement and headed into the island’s dense coastal forest, with Nami in the lead. Mangroves and bald cypress trees created a canopy mesh overhead, filtering the sun. A vibrant red Bloodcrest parrot took flight, swooping past them as they wove between the tree roots. A slim, greenish-gray mangrove viper coiled on a low branch, its forked tongue sniffing the air. 

They came upon a freshwater stream that trickled down from the jagged peaks at the outer edge of the crescent-shaped cay. Mangroves and cypress gave way to giant willow trees, their silvery-green leaves trailing toward the ground like flowing hair. The breeze whispered with a rustle. 

“Do we know what we are looking for?” Jinbe asked, stepping around a golden leather fern with pointed leaf tips.

“Boars,” Nami stated. Robin helped her cross a lichen-covered log that traversed the stream. 

“With the damp ground, we should be able to see their tracks,” Zoro said. “I’ve hunted wild boar before. They have hooves like Chopper, but should be much bigger. Usually you’ll find hair on trees where they’ve rubbed against it.”

“When did you hunt boar?” Jinbe inquired curiously.

“Back in the East Blue, when I was about seventeen,” Zoro said. “My boat ended up on an uninhabited island with a hole in it. Had to eat while I worked fixing it.”

“We should be able to find a game trail,” Robin added. “It will be more worn down than the other areas between the trees.”

A massive, warty green toad croaked at them from a rock beside the stream. A velvety black caterpillar with metallic green stripes inched its way up a willow tendril as they passed. Silkworms created woven white cocoons in one of the branches, the leaves within and around it defoliated. 

“Hey, Nami, do you think my cut of the treasure will erase my debt?” Zoro said.

“Not a chance.” Nami grinned over her shoulder at him. “You’ll be indentured to me until you’re three hundred years old.”

Zoro snorted. “You expect me to live that long?”

“You will if you don’t want me dragging your ghost around until you fulfill your obligations.”

“And have to look at your ugly, old, witch-ass every day, no thank you.”

Nami laughed. “Like you’re a peach to look at, you overgrown ape.”

“At least I get hit on at every port,” Zoro teased her. “I don’t have to hit them to get a date.”

“It was only that one girl! And I didn’t do it on purpose!” Nami protested. Robin giggled.

“Uh-huh.” Zoro brushed aside a willow tendril, holding it out of the way for Jinbe. “Wasn’t she a marine?”

“Yeah.” Nami sighed loudly. “Really cute, too. I blame Usopp for giving me faulty equipment.”

The rush of a waterfall was heard in the distance, likely the source of the stream. The cool air kept their trek through the damp interior of the cay from being humid. A mosquito hummed near Zoro’s ear and he squashed it against his cheek. He wiped the bloody remains off his hand on his long-coat.

“I see a game trail,” Robin spoke up, pointing ahead of them. “Shall we go toward the sound of the waterfall, or away?”

“Do you think there’d be an underground spot near water?” Nami said. “Wouldn’t that mean a possibility of flooding?”

“True,” Robin concurred. “We shall try the other direction then. We can always circle back if we are unsuccessful.”

The four of them branched onto the game trail, heading away from the stream. A Rockshrike falcon circled high overhead, visible between the willow trees. Tiny red-shelled beetles clustered in the creases of willow bark. A slender, finger-length threadscale lizard with iridescent scales darted off a root as they walked down the trodden path. 

Cloven hoofprints were visible between the remains of fallen leaves. “There’s some hair.” Zoro pointed out where boar hair had caught on the grain of an old, rotting log. Bright orange shelf mushrooms sprouted from the log. Zoro traced his name quickly with his fingernail on the surface of one, which turned the letters deep blue. 

“Listen,” Robin said a few minutes later, further down the game trail. Zoro cocked his head, straining his ears. He picked up on the sound of snorts and grunts further along the trail. 

Robin crossed her arms and closed her eyes. Zoro, Nami, and Jinbe knew she was using her Devil Fruit powers to scout ahead. Zoro extended his observation haki. He could sense where the boars were, rooting around near the trail. 

“There are approximately six ahead,” Robin reported. “I put an ear farther along the trail and picked up the sound of a larger group of them.”

Nami pulled out her Clima-Tact and assembled it. Zoro arched his brow at her. “Just in case,” she said. “I’d rather not become wild boar food.”

They continued along the trail, more cautiously now, with Jinbe moving into the lead and Robin at the rear. Zoro stuck with Nami. Loud chuffing was heard as they undoubtedly came into scent range. A shrill sound followed and the unseen boars thundered down the game trail, away from them. Zoro glanced back at Robin, who nodded her head. They both presumed the six boars were going to join the larger group that she’d heard.

They all heard the sound of grunts, snorts, deep growls, and sharp hurks of warning growing louder the longer they walked along the game trail. Zoro thumbed the seal on one of his katanas, ready to break it at a moment’s notice. Though the sky was still sunny the atmosphere felt ominous. 

The smell hit them next. At first, it was earthy and acrid with the underscore of sweat and mud. Then, the rank stench of old wallows hit their noses, mixed with the sharp, oily reek of swine. Nami pulled her hoodie up over her nose and Robin pinched her nostrils shut. Zoro pulled his bandana from around his bicep to tie over his nose and mouth. Jinbe hid his nose in the crook of his elbow. 

They reached the edge of the game trail and came to a cautious halt. In front of them was an enormous depression in the earth, filled with mud and at least thirty wild boars, if not more. A majority of them were close to three feet tall and five feet long, muscular and hairy. A few had enormous tusks that jutted from their mouths. There only appeared to be a few piglets amongst the sounder.

A high, tearing REEEEEEE erupted from one of the boars. Immediately, other boars took up the shrill cry, exploding the area with wild, chaotic sound that ripped through the four Straw Hats’ ears and scraped along their spines. Nami clamped her hands over her ears and Robin sprouted a second pair to do the same. Zoro cringed and Jinbe set his jaw with narrowed eyes. 

Almost as one, the boars stampeded, fleeing up the opposite side of the depression, kicking and churning mud in their wake. The ground shook as the large group thundered from the wallow in a panic. The trees shuddered hard as massive bodies bolted into the coastal forest and rained down leaves. At the edge of the depression, the four of them stared in the direction the boars had run until they could no longer be heard.

“I am glad that we did not need to fight them!” Jinbe exclaimed with a hearty chuckle. 

“Me, too,” Nami echoed. “That was a lot of boars.”

Robin looked down into the muddy wallow and a smile bloomed on her face. “Do I detect the squared outline of something at the bottom of the depression?”

Zoro looked where she pointed. Sure enough, beneath the trampled mud the faint outline of a raised area was visible. Zoro didn’t hesitate to slide down the muddy side of the enormous depression to the bottom, carefully not to lose his footing. He’d prefer not to get coated in boar slime or whatever they excreted. 

At the bottom, Zoro squished through the mud to the raised area and kicked it with his toe. It was solid rock underneath. “It’s some sort of rock. We’re going to have to clean this off,” he called back to them, still standing on the edge.

“Get out of the way,” Nami instructed, raising her Clima-Tact.

Zoro traversed the bottom of the bowl-like area to the side where it began to rise. He watched as Nami began using her weapon to create tiny, localized clouds directly above the patch Zoro had indicated. A minute later, it began to rain in that specific spot. They watched as the rain washed away the mud covering the ground, to reveal a seemingly solid hunk of rock that was unnaturally squared off. 

Nami sent the little storm away with a gust of wind from her Clima-Tact and Zoro crossed back to the rock formation. Nami, Robin, and Jinbe slid down the side of the depression to join him. “I’m going to need a new pair of shoes after this,” Nami complained as her ankle-high boots sunk into the wallow’s mud.

“Perhaps there will be enough money to purchase many pairs of shoes after this,” Jinbe commented.

Zoro pointed to the squared rock. “Door?”

“Door,” Robin confirmed. She crouched down and used an extra set of fingers to swipe at the wet, dirty surface until a keyhole was revealed. “Nami, would you care to do the honors?”

“Yes!” Nami pulled the key from between her boobs, which made Zoro snort. She stood on the rock itself and inserted the key into the keyhole. They heard a snick as the bites on the blade interacted with the lock’s pins and levers in the correct way. Nami was nearly knocked off her feet as the stone began to rumble and move beneath her. Zoro quickly nabbed her around the waist, lifting her to safety. 

The stone door rumbled and lifted on one end by some sort of cogged mechanism. Franky or Usopp would probably have known how it worked. Zoro simply watched as the stone rose high enough to expose a set of stairs carved from the rock leading down. Once the stone stopped moving, the rumble cut off, leaving them shrouded in anticipatory silence.

Robin pulled a lamp dial from the bag at her hip and turned it on. “Shall we?”

“I’ll go first,” Zoro said, drawing a katana in case. He accepted the lamp dial from Robin, ducked beneath the raised stone door, and descended the steps. 

The first thing he noticed was how cool it was, like the caverns back on Golden Hook Island. The scent of damp earth and stale air filled his nostrils beneath the bandana still covering his nose. He didn’t see any critters or webs, the muddy seal on the stone door preventing entry. The steps ended in a carved stone room that appeared red in color from the iron in the rock. A smile creased Zoro’s face when the lamp dial illuminated its contents. 

“Hey, Nami. Found your treasure.”

Nami squealed as loud as the boars and came rushing down the steps. She drew up short when she saw what the vault contained. Drool began falling from the corner of her lips and her eyes glazed over. “So much gold…”

The Crimson Vault was packed with gold bars, ornate weapons, paintings, tapestries, and chests filled with beli and precious jewels. It would likely take them an entire day to bring it all back to the Sunny. Robin found a cache of books and papers, preserved in another chest. Jinbe, sitting on the steps, pointed out an entire set of beautiful dinnerware that Sanji might like. The Bloodtide Brotherhood’s ill-gotten gains now belonged to the Straw Hat Pirates. 

Nami suddenly squealed again and threw herself at Zoro in a massive hug. “I love treasure!”

Zoro laughed, hugging her back. “We know you do.” 

She planted a noisy kiss on his cheek, released him, and waded between the chests and gold bars to examine the paintings. “We’re going to have to sell some of this stuff. We can keep the gold and jewels in the treasure room on the Sunny until we need to use it, but these paintings, tapestries, and weapons will take up too much room.”

“We should sail away from the Red Port and the marine bases near this end of the Grand Line,” Jinbe said. “It would not do to have the Sunny seized while carrying such a load.”

“I’ll check my maps and see which would be the best island for us to stop at that doesn’t have a marine presence. Or at least, not a large one,” Nami said, shifting paintings forward as she examined them.

“The marines might not want to tangle with us right now,” Robin said with a coy smile, looking through the documents in the chest. “Red Jack appears to have kept detailed documents on certain former high ranking members that they may not want revealed. A few of the names I have spotted have descendants in the marines.”

“I shall return to camp and share the good news,” Jinbe said. “I am pleased that this adventure back across the Grand Line has proved fruitful.”

Nami abruptly squealed again with glee. “So much treasure!”

It took more than a day to transport the contents of the Crimson Vault to the Sunny as they hadn’t located it until the afternoon. Nami had to be forced to depart the vault when the sun began to set. When darkness fell, Sanji whipped up a feast over the campfire and the crew celebrated the find. Zoro would’ve liked the party to include a ton of alcohol but Sanji had only brought over a few bottles to share between the entire crew.

The Thousand Sunny weighed anchor late the following afternoon, the hold packed full of treasure. Nami set them on a course that would take them past Dressrosa toward the more populous and prosperous islands that dotted the New World.

As the weeks passed, the weather turned balmy, allowing them to shed their heavier clothes. Zoro wore a t-shirt with his trousers and Chopper only wore shorts as they sat in the galley at one end of the dining table, playing a card game. Sanji was dressed in a black button down shirt with the sleeves rolled up and no tie. The dark color of the shirt made the skin of his chest appear paler where it peaked between the open plackets at the collar. Zoro did his best to pretend he wasn’t interested in unbuttoning more of that shirt to expose the rest of Sanji’s creamy skin.

Chopper turned over a second card, clapped, and took both away from the layout to add to his pile. The playing cards were face down between them in a grid pattern, with holes in between where Chopper had won the cards. The object of the game was to match the cards by turning over one at a time and trying to remember where its mate was. They’d been playing for about an hour and this was their second go. Chopper had a large stack of pairs that he’d won. Zoro had none. 

Zoro flipped over a turtle. He knew he’d seen a turtle before and studied the playing field. Had it been closer to Chopper than him? He thought so. And on the kitchen side of the galley. Zoro picked a card that seemed likely and turned it over. It was an owl. He sighed. “I suck at this game.”

“Chopper’s cheating,” Sanji spoke up from the other end of the dining table. The fancy dinnerware that had been in the Crimson Vault was spread across the table in front of him and he was polishing each piece with a rag. 

“I’m not cheating!” Chopper protested. “I’m winning fair and square.”

Zoro’s brow furrowed. He hadn’t seen Chopper doing anything but playing the game. And Chopper wasn’t the cheating type.

“The game is based on remembering directionality,” Sanji said, sounding amused. “And we all know that Zoro has zero sense of direction.”

Zoro looked up at Chopper, who had the grace to look chagrined. Zoro’s mouth opened with shock. “You knew I’d never win!”

“Eh-heh-heh.” Chopper shifted on his seat. “I was trying to help you get better at remembering directions. That’s what a memory game is for.”

Zoro narrowed his eyes. “Chopper…”

Chopper squealed, jumped off his chair, and ran for the door, yelling over his shoulder, “I’m a bad reindeer! I knew I would win!”

Zoro thundered after him, chasing him out of the galley. Chopper took the slide, sending him sailing off the end. His squeals engaged Luffy, who rubber banded himself into chase, latching onto Usopp, Brook, and Franky, until they were all chasing each other in a circle around the tree in the middle of the main deck. 

Zoro caught Chopper, who he tickled until Chopper begged for mercy. His running steps slowed, allowing Luffy to clasp onto his back like a rubber koala. Usopp plowed into Luffy because he was looking behind him as he fled from Brook. Zoro tripped on a discarded sandal left in the lawn and the four of them went down in a heap. Zoro made sure that Chopper ended up outside of the pile. 

Brook stopped when he saw the pileup, but Franky didn’t. “Haha! Caught you all!” he shouted before collapsing on top of everyone in a giant cyborg heap. Zoro oofed as he was squashed at the bottom. “I’m super!”

“Yo-ho-ho!” Brook laughed at them. “My ribs are tickled at the antics of my namaka, which you can see because I’m a skeleton! Yo-ho-ho!”

“Can’t breathe,” Zoro gasped. 

“Ah! Zoro can’t breathe!” Chopper fretted. “Call a doctor!”

“You are the doctor,” Brook pointed out.

“Oh, yeah.” 

Franky got up and hoisted Usopp and Luffy off of Zoro, holding one each under a massive arm. “You good, bro?” he asked Zoro.

Zoro took several gulps of air before pushing to his feet. “I’m good.” He spotted Chopper nervously dancing in front of him. Zoro narrowed his eyes again. Chopper squealed and ran off laughing. Franky threw Luffy and Usopp in Chopper’s direction and the three started a new chase.

Zoro shared a smile with Franky and Brook and headed back up to the galley. Sanji glanced up from the teacup he was polishing when Zoro entered. His smile was mocking. “Dumbass marimo.”

“Tch. It’s just a card game,” Zoro dismissed. He swept the cards into a neat pile for Chopper to retrieve later. Sanji made a soft sound of ridicule but said nothing more. 

Zoro went into the kitchen area and punched the code into the refrigerator. Sanji had shared it with him on the pain of death if he abused the privilege or let Luffy anywhere near the fridge. Zoro filled a glass with ice, then poured Sanji a cold sweet tea from the pitcher in the fridge. He put the pitcher back, fetched a bottle of sake, and shut the fridge again, ensuring the lock was engaged. He carried their drinks over to the table, setting the glass beside Sanji’s place before taking the seat catty corner to him. Zoro’s swords were sitting against the couch, where he’d put them before starting the game with Chopper.

“This is, like, the fourth time you’re polishing those,” Zoro pointed out as he uncorked the bottle of sake. 

“They deserve to be treated with reverence,” Sanji said. He held up the golden cup with delicate filigree. “This set is exquisite.”

Zoro’s lips twitched in bemusement. “Are you going to let us use them?”

“Never!” Sanji clasped the cup swiftly to his chest. “You ogres would destroy them in seconds. Well, Nami-san and Robin-chan would treat them correctly, but not the rest of you.”

Zoro chuckled and took a long pull from the bottle. They fell into a comfortable silence. Zoro was content to sit, drink his sake, and watch Sanji play with his precious dishes. Sanji looked carefree at the moment, a small smile hovering on his lips, his fingers working the rag around each cup and dish, polishing away invisible dirt or smudges. The downtilt of his head revealed both eyes as his hair hung away from his face. Zoro, seated facing him, let his gaze drink in Sanji’s features, from the curl of his eyebrows down his sharp nose to the neat goatee on his chin. 

“You’re really handsome, you know that?” Zoro said, deciding to take Usopp’s advice. It was time to let Sanji know that Zoro liked him. It might not go the way he wanted, but at least he’d tried. 

A blush spread across Sanji’s face and he became more engrossed in polishing the plate in his hand. The glass of sweet tea was down to the melting ice in the glass. “You’ve been hit in the head too many times.”

“Heh. Probably.” Zoro smiled crookedly at Sanji. “Doesn’t make what I said any less true.”

Sanji stopped polishing, his body tensing. “Why are you saying this?”

“Because I like you,” Zoro replied, tipping the bottle of sake to his lips, letting his answer speak for itself.

Sanji went quiet and very still. His head was still downturned, his eyes focused on the plate in his hand. His chest rose and fell beneath his black shirt. His shoulders were a line of tension. 

Zoro drank his sake and let his gaze roam around the dining table. The gold cups and plates gleamed in the sconce lighting. He couldn’t imagine using them, even if Sanji allowed it. They looked too rich and hoity-toity for him. He preferred drinking right from the bottle.

Sanji sometimes looked too rich and hoity-toity for Zoro, too. His fancy suits and ties, his polished shoes, the always clean hair, was so different from Zoro’s less caring approach to his appearance. Zoro showered regularly because he worked out, but he didn’t care if he went a day or two smelly or dirty. He’d gone longer than that back during his pirate hunter days in the East Blue, when he lacked money for anything other than a meal or a drink. Part of his demon reputation had come from him being stained with other people’s blood because he hadn’t the time or money to shower.

Zoro knew, though, that beneath Sanji’s finery was a man stronger than anyone. He’d been through a shit-ton of crap and was still standing, bruised but alive. Zoro wanted to take all the hurt Sanji had gone through over the years and make it his own, to share the burdens Sanji’s traumatic past had heaped upon his shoulders. Sanji wasn’t perfect, far from it. He was self-sacrificial, treated women like glass objects instead of people, was blatant in his horniness for them, couldn’t fight them at the cost of his own life or limb, kept people at arm’s length, hid how he truly felt, and smoked like a chimney. His sense of self-worth could fill a thimble and he blamed himself for other people’s abuse.

But Zoro had gotten to know the man behind his self-imposed iron mask and he was everything Zoro could hope for in a friend, in a partner, in life. Zoro liked him, flaws and alls. He wanted to be with Sanji in every way possible. What started as a self-recriminatory quest to fix a fault in his own behavior had turned into something precious to Zoro. Sanji deserved the world and Zoro could only hope to stand beside him come what may.

“Do you want to have sex with me?” Sanji said eventually, warily. “Is that what this is about?”

“Yes, but it’s not just that.” Zoro set the nearly empty sake bottle on the table and leaned forward on his elbows with it clasped between his palms. “I like spending time with you, hanging out here with you, talking or not talking depending on the day. I like your passion and your strength and the way you haven’t let life defeat you. And I like the fact that I want to know more about you than I already do, because everything you choose to share with me is one more facet to the fantastic, fascinating man that I’m proud to know.”

One of Sanji’s hands crept up to his hair and he tugged at it. “You can’t mean all that.”

“I do. And if I have to, I will spend every waking moment convincing you of it.” 

Sanji’s eyes closed tightly, the plate now resting in his lap. He hunched forward over himself, both hands tangled in his hair now. Zoro could see a tremble in his shoulders. He wanted to reach out, to gather Sanji close, hold him, but Zoro knew Sanji would either shut down, put on a false front, or bolt if he tried. Sanji had to fight his own self-doubts and damaging words from his past to accept that someone wanted him for him. The fact that he still let Zoro see his struggle spoke volumes about the depth of their closeness now.

Zoro picked up his sake again, finishing off the bottle. He pushed the discarded cork back into the neck. He rubbed his thumb against the label, wondering if anyone else had found the bottle he and Sanji had replaced on The Whispering Isle. He pictured his bandana wrapped around Sanji’s gold lighter, left as a part of Hart’s Treasure. Adventurous together. Zoro hoped it would continue to be true.

Outside the galley portholes, Zoro could see the sun shifting in the sky. Clouds painted wisps over the expanse of blue. A ship was outlined in the distance, looking no bigger than Zoro’s hand as it sailed close to the horizon. Usopp bolted past the porthole outside the galley, followed by Nami with her Clima-Tact raised. The Adam’s wood walls of the galley kept the sound of chaos at bay.

“You’re sure?” Sanji’s voice was quiet, wavering. “Because if this is some kind of joke, I will slit your throat in your sleep and toss your body overboard.”

Zoro’s lips pulled up on one side. “It’s not a joke. I like you, cook– Sanji,” he corrected, using Sanji’s name for the first time in… ever. “And if you’re willing, I wouldn’t mind you and I being a ‘we,’ together.”

Sanji let out a soft, shaky laugh, head still downturned, hands in his hair, arms hiding his face. “That was terribly cheesy.”

“Eh. Worked, didn’t it?” Zoro said, surreptitiously holding his breath. There was no guarantee that Sanji’s response meant a yes.

Sanji released a slow breath and reached into his breast pocket for his cigarettes. One hand was still buried in his hair as he lit up. His eyes were closed, the fan of his lashes dark against his pale skin. He smoked his cigarette silently, ashing when needed into the tray on the dining table without looking at it.

Zoro gnawed on his lower lip and tried not to fidget. Usopp was either going to get a big hug of thanks or become a shoulder to cry on. Not that Zoro would cry, but he would be miserable for a while and he’d need his friend’s support. His nakama had been slowly trying to integrate themselves into Sanji’s life by visiting the galley regularly. They’d be able to take over for him if Sanji didn’t want him around anymore because it would be too awkward.

“You’d better not laugh at my dick.”

Zoro’s focus shot to Sanji’s at his words, hope expanding in his chest. “I’ve seen your dick. There’s nothing to laugh about.”

One of Sanji’s eyes popped open to stare at Zoro suspiciously. “Have you been spying on me in the bath, perverted swordsman?”

“Tch. No. That’s something only you did, love cook,” Zoro said, recalling Nami telling him the same. “You were, uh, rather excited in the cell back on Coralhaven, and you had no pants.”

“Ah. That. Right.” Sanji took a final pull on the smoked-down cigarette before stabbing the butt out in the ashtray. “Wish I remembered. Actually, no I don’t. Did they really take pictures, like Chopper told me?”

“Yeah.” Zoro felt his shoulders unwind, his chest lighten. “Of me, you, and the girls.”

“Bastards.” Sanji pushed his hair away from his face as he straightened his posture. It immediately fell back over one eye. “Those better not get around. My wanted photo is terrible enough. I look like a moron. I don’t need a naked poster of me plastered all over the place.”

“I think Robin burned them,” Zoro said. He’d check with her, to be sure. She’d mentioned the disparaging advertisement clipped to Sanji’s with a rageful line to her lips. If they hadn’t already departed Coralhaven, Cortez would’ve been a dead woman waiting for marine pickup. Zoro hoped darkly that Cortez suffered daily torture at the marine prison.

“Robin-chan has seen me naked?” Sanji’s voice went up in a panic. 

“She saw my picture, too,” Zoro pointed out.

“Yeah, but nobody cares what your ugly ass looks like.” Sanji buttoned the two open buttons at the collar of his shirt. 

“Gee, thanks.” 

“Shut up. You’re gay.”

Zoro rolled his eyes. “You’re kinda gay, yourself.”

“That doesn’t mean I don’t want women to find me attractive!” Sanji bemoaned. “Robin-chan will never think I’m sexy again.”

“She didn’t think you were sexy to begin with,” Zoro said, and used the swivel on the chair to dodge the kick to his shin that he knew was coming. “Besides, I thought you liked me now. Why do you care what she thinks?”

Sanji stilled, his face turning a variety of colors and going through a multitude of contortions until it finally settled on a bright red blush paired with a scowl. “I like you better when your mouth is shut.”

Zoro grinned at him, then made a big emphasis of closing his lips together and pointing at them. 

Sanji pressed his hand to his face. “Fuck, you’re such an asshole. I’m mortified and you’re making fun of me.”

“Mfnthmmmrhfmmhn.”

“I hate you.”

Zoro’s shoulders shook with muffled laughter. Sanji jabbed a finger at him. “Out of my galley, rotten marimo.”

Zoro stood, ruffled Sanji’s hair, which made him squawk and Zoro’s laugh more. He took the sake bottle and deposited it where Sanji kept the empty ones. Then, he retrieved his katanas and headed for the door.

“Oi, idiot,” Sanji stopped him, and Zoro glanced over his shoulder. Sanji was looking down at the table, twisting the rag in his hands. “I suppose I kind of like you, too.”

A broad smile broke over Zoro’s face and his chest filled to bursting. “Mmthn.”

A shoe came flying in his direction – which was a new move for Sanji – and Zoro laughed as he ducked out the door before it hit him in the head. 

Howler Bay was a large, arid island with a bustling population and tourist trade. Ships of all sizes crowded the harbor, some docked at the busy port, others anchored wherever there was space. The hot, dry climate didn’t deter visitors from going ashore. Cactuses, creosote, jojoba, and brittlebushes shared the sandy desert with mesquite, palo verde, cottonwood, and ironwood trees. Rattlesnakes, king snakes, and gopher snakes sought refuge from the population beyond the vibrant city. People took care not to step on scorpions or tarantulas when they were out at night.

The city itself filled half the full moon of the white sand island. Three and four-story buildings, painted in golds, tans, blues, and reds, packed the streets with narrow alleyways between them. Casinos, clubs, theaters, and entertainment venues shared space with hotels, restaurants, bars, and amusement parks. The shopping district took up four entire city blocks. The locals lived closer to the desert, commuting to work on sand skis, gliding easily across the sandy surface of the streets.

The noise was constant. Conversations overlapping, hawkers calling people into shops and venues, kids playing games, parents screaming for them to come to dinner. Bodies packed the streets, dressed in everything from t-shirts and shorts to flowing kaftans and yukatas. The sun beat down from overhead, the buildings casting cooler shadows to duck into for a break from the heat. Fountains and splash pads were frequent, with tourists and children stopping to cool down before continuing about their day.

Nami, Robin, and Franky went off together to secure buyers for the paintings, tapestries, ornate weaponry, and some of the precious jewels from the Crimson Vault treasure. Luffy snagged Brook and Usopp and ran off with them. Chopper accompanied Sanji and Jinbe on a supply run. Zoro was volun-told by Nami to protect the ship and its wealthy cargo until someone relieved him. He didn’t mind. He used the time to train and then sprawled in the middle of the grass beneath the main deck tree, unbothered, to take a long nap.

He was awakened by the shoppers return and went to help with the large amount of supplies. The benefit of stopping at a highly populated island meant Sanji could stock the storerooms to his heart’s content. 

Zoro grabbed the clipboard in the galley storeroom and checked the list beneath the room’s layout drawing. It looked like he could move the entire row of rice forward and the potatoes. The flour needed shifting, as did the sugar, baking sodas and powders, and the unprocessed beans. He’d get to work on the whole rows first before tackling the others, while Sanji was down in the other hold putting supplies away.

“Bye, Zoro,” he heard a little while later, as he was restacking beans in their rotated configuration. Chopper stuck his head in the open doorway of the storeroom. “I’m heading back into town. Jinbe said he’s feeling dried out, so he’s going to stick around the ship.”

“Okay,” Zoro said. “Be careful.”

Chopper blushed and wiggled. “Your concern for my well-being is not wanted, asshole!”

Zoro chuckled at Chopper’s usual antics and Chopper waved before departing. Zoro returned to rotating the stock. There were still several crates and large bags piled in the cart sitting in the galley. Another couple hours worth of work. Zoro didn’t mind. He’d gotten used to helping Sanji rearrange the stock after supply runs, knowing how important it was to keep track of what they had, where it was located, and its accessibility.

“Supplies in the hold are done,” Sanji said when he came into the storeroom about an hour later. He looked around at Zoro’s work. “Not bad, mosshead. You do know how to read a map when it's contained to one room.”

“Ha-ha,” Zoro said drolly, reaching up to place another bag of beans on the stack. He gestured with his chin in the general direction of the galley. “There’s a crate by the table that I don’t know where to put. It’s labeled soap.”

“Ah, that’s the restock for up in the bathroom storage. I’ll take care of that, then come back and help finish up here,” Sanji said, heading back out the door.

He wasn’t gone too long. When he returned, Zoro noted his hair was damp. Between the two of them, they made quick work in finishing unpacking the supplies. Zoro took the cart from the galley and wheeled it into the storeroom on the main deck, where they kept the lawn furniture. Jinbe was climbing over the rail from the side of the ship, dripping wet. “Ah, Zoro, finished with the supplies?”

“Yeah. Just now.”

“If you two wish to head into town, please do,” Jinbe said, reaching for a nearby towel draped over the rail. “I am going to stay here and likely take another dip before evening sets. It is quite dry here.”

“Okay, thanks,” Zoro told him. “Want us to bring you anything back?”

“No, but thank you for asking,” Jinbe told him. Zoro nodded agreeably and headed back up to the galley.

Sanji was making notes on his list of the new items in the storage room, double-checking everything. Zoro leaned against the doorframe, arms crossed over his loose blue tank that he wore with dark green cargo shorts. “Jinbe said he’d watch the ship if we wanted to go into town.”

“That’s nice of him,” Sanji commented. He made a few more notes, tucked the pencil into the clip, and hung the board from the peg on the wall near the door. “I’ll toss together a meal for him, in case he gets hungry.”

Zoro moved out of the way and Sanji went into the kitchen. Sanji was dressed in deference to the heat, in a short-sleeved white button down with tiny gold flowers woven into the cotton material over his pair of wine-colored board shorts and open-toed sandals. Zoro settled at the bar to wait, wondering what kind of taverns they had in Howler Bay. Zoro wasn’t a fan of the trendier places that served fluorescent drinks with umbrellas or tiny swords in them. He liked his bars to serve beer and occasionally bloodshed. 

Sanji moved deftly about the kitchen, taking items out of the refrigerator, tossing things onto the stove, chopping and cooking with skilled ease. He’d lit a cigarette, the acrid smell of smoke blending with the fruity scent of pineapple and melon. Sanji probably liked those fluorescent drinks with the umbrellas or tiny swords. Zoro might end up at one of those taverns whether he liked it or not. He supposed if the music was good, he could tolerate it. None of that noise like Brook played. 

“We’re going to have sex.”

Zoro’s gaze jerked up from its absent stare at Sanji’s hands to goggle at the blond. “Did you say that we were going to have sex?”

“You heard me.” Sanji shifted the cigarette in his lips, puffing with agitation. He quickly chopped up a cucumber and tossed it into a bowl with a variety of other vegetables. It looked like he was making a salad of some sort.

Zoro opened his mouth and closed it again. They were going to have sex. He and Sanji were going to have sex. Zoro hardened in his shorts. “Where?”

“Hotel.” Sanji turned his back to Zoro and stirred something quickly on the stove. “I already have the key.”

Zoro felt the heat of arousal spread through him. Sanji had planned to have sex with him before saying anything. He’d gotten them a room in town while he was out with Chopper and Jinbe. 

Zoro needed to get sex lubricant. It was possible Sanji already had some, too, which sent a jolt of lust right to his cock. Zoro had some in his locker in the men’s room. He shoved to his feet. “Be right back.” 

Sanji grunted in response and Zoro hurried out of the galley. He thundered down the stairs in his boots, jogged across the lawn, and shoved open the men’s quarters’ door. It took him little time to open his locker and retrieve the tube of slick on the shelf at the top. He stuffed it into the pocket of his cargo shorts, adjusted his hard-on so it wouldn’t be so prominent, then sniffed his pits. Did he smell? He smelled. Even though he’d taken a shower after training and before his nap. 

Zoro stopped at the sink in the men’s quarters, near the door, to brush his teeth. Then, he ran across the ship, up behind the galley, to the ladder that led to the library and onto the bathroom. He threw off his clothes, set his katanas aside, and hurried into the shower. The bathroom on the Thousand Sunny was divided between an outer room and an inner room. The outer room housed a sink and a water closet, plus storage and cubbies that held towels, their clothes, and personal soaps and shampoos. The inner room had a shower, a bench that ran along the wall beneath it, a large onsen-style tub to share, and bubble-patterned tile on the floor.

Zoro flipped on the shower tap and used the wand to quickly wet himself down. He grabbed the sliver of soap left in the soap dish, scrubbing his pits and his groin thoroughly. His erection bounced with the action. He should probably jerk off, to relieve the tension. He’d hate to go off like a teenager his first time having sex with Sanji.

Holy shit, he was going to have sex with Sanji.

Zoro slicked up his hand with the soap, wrapped his fingers around his turgid shaft, and began to masturbate. His mind went immediately to the images burned into his skull forever from the cell on Coralhaven. Sanji, wearing that brown shirt, the way it draped over his erection. Sanji, wrapping his fingers around himself to jerk off right in front of Zoro. Sanji, fully naked, standing outside the cell like a confident warrior about to kick ass. 

Zoro came within an embarrassingly short amount of time, spattering semen on the bench beneath the shower. He rinsed it off with the shower wand before finishing washing his body. He decided to wash his hair, as well, using one of the shampoos tucked into the nook nearby. It smelled woody. Zoro scrubbed his scalp, rinsed clean, and toweled dry. He sniffed his pits again and was satisfied that he wouldn’t offend Sanji’s nose.

Zoro redressed, tossing his wet towel in the hamper in the outer room. He slid his katanas into the loop at his side and finger-combed his hair. He went back down the ladders and rejoined Sanji in the galley, cutting through Chopper’s infirmary to get there. He slid back onto the bench seat at the bar, acting as nonchalant as possible.

Sanji’s lips twitched when he glanced at Zoro’s damp hair, but he didn’t say anything. He finished preparing a meal for Jinbe of a tropical fish salad and side dish of poi. Zoro rubbed his palms against his shorts. They felt sweaty. Maybe one shower wasn’t enough.

Sanji slid the salad and poi into the refrigerator. He cleaned up the kitchen, his movements swift and efficient. When he was finished, he washed his hands, stabbed out the cigarette between his lips with the other butt in the ashtray, and popped a mint into his mouth. He crunched on it as he rounded the bar, out of the kitchen area, and headed for the door. “Let’s go, marimo.”

Zoro leapt to his feet like an eager puppy and told himself to calm down. They still needed to walk into town. Sanji could change his mind between now and when they got to whatever hotel they were going to. He would change his mind if Zoro continued to act like an idiot virgin falling all over himself. 

Sanji stopped to let Jinbe know they were leaving and about the meal in the fridge. Jinbe wished them both an enjoyable evening. Zoro’s face heated. He may as well be wearing a sign stating in capital letters WE ARE GOING TO HAVE SEX. This was the whole first crush thing all over again. Zoro was pathetic. It was only sex. He’d been having sex since he was fifteen. It was no big deal. Yes, okay, he liked Sanji in a way that he hadn’t liked any of the guys he’d slept with, but still, it was just sex.

Zoro followed Sanji down the gangplank to the pier where the Sunny was berthed. They’d lucked out with a ship leaving the harbor the same time as they’d arrived, allowing them to secure a spot at the docks. The sun was starting to set, creating long fingers of shadows down the streets between the buildings. The city was still crowded with people and noise as the working day turned into a relaxing evening out on the town. 

Sanji seemed to know where he was going, weaving steadily through the throngs of visitors on the streets. He’d nab Zoro’s tank on occasion, drawing Zoro back to his side when Zoro inadvertently veered off. Zoro noticed that Sanji had a satchel with him, slung over his shoulder. Zoro wondered when he’d picked it up. It must’ve been near the gangplank. Zoro was curious about what he’d brought. A change of clothes? Toiletries? A year’s supply of lube?

The tube of slick that Zoro had brought was burning a hole in the pocket of his shorts. Luckily, jerking off in the shower made it so he didn’t have any issues walking through town. Otherwise, everyone would’ve known what they were going to be doing once they arrived at the hotel. Zoro opting not to wear underwear did come with disadvantages.

Sanji didn’t talk to him, which was fine with Zoro. Zoro would probably start babbling like an idiot because he was nervous. It had been a long time since he’d felt like this. He didn’t know if he liked it or hated it. Probably somewhere in between. Because this mattered. Sanji mattered. And Zoro didn’t want to do anything to screw things up. 

Sanji turned into the doorway of a nondescript building that matched the other nondescript buildings on the street. This one was painted brown in color. It was next door to a restaurant that had too many vowels in its name, which was probably why Sanji had picked it. 

The interior of the lobby looked like every other city hotel Zoro had been in, with a registration counter, luggage carts, and a plethora of plants in vases. Sanji walked right past the counter to the stairs in the back, and together they climbed to the third floor. Sanji led them down a floral patterned hallway to a room partway down, slotted a key into the door, and unlocked it. Zoro followed Sanji inside, his heart pounding in his chest. His palms were sweating again.

The room was plain and functional. A king-sized bed lined one wall, dressed in crisp white sheets. A dresser stood across from it with a bag stand beside it. A plush chair sat beneath a curtained window that overlooked the building next door. The room had an attached bath with a separate water closet. Sconce lights hung from the beige walls above the bed, casting a rose-colored glow on the room. A painting of the desert landscape hung between the lights. A fan whirred overhead, cooling the room. 

Sanji set his satchel down on top of the dresser and moved to close the curtains. Zoro unhooked his katanas and leaned them against the wall. He could tell that Sanji was tense. So was Zoro, but in an anticipatory way. He really wanted to have sex with Sanji, but he didn’t want Sanji to feel like it was an obligation after he’d said it. “Um… you know, we don’t have to do this, right?” Zoro said, rubbing the back of his neck. “I’ll still like you whether we have sex or not. Sex is just a bonus.”

Sanji stopped fiddling with the curtains. He stood silently by the window, his back to Zoro. Zoro waited, taking the time to clear his brain of the excited chaos. No matter what, everything would be okay. As much as he longed to touch Sanji, to feel that powerful body beneath his, he valued Sanji’s company more. 

“This is stupid,” Sanji finally said, turning around, his fingers curling into fists. “I really want to have sex with you, but I’m afraid that I’m not going to be good enough.”

“That’s impossible.” Zoro crossed the hotel room and stopped directly in front of Sanji. They were the same height, putting them eye-to-eye. “If anything, I’m the one who has to live up to your standards. If bottoming during sex is the only way you get to really feel, I’d better be damned good to make sure that you enjoy it.”

Sanji huffed a self-deprecating laugh. “I’m sure you can wield your sword just fine.”

A grin stretched Zoro’s lips. “And you called me cheesy.” 

Sanji took a deep breath, blew it out, then nabbed the belt loops in Zoro’s shorts. He tugged Zoro closer to him. “I think if you’d just kiss me, everything will be okay.”

Zoro brought his hands up, one sliding around the back of Sanji’s neck, the other lightly caressing his cheek. “I can do that,” he said, and lowered his mouth to Sanji’s.

Sanji’s breath hitched when their lips met and Zoro’s eyelid fluttered shut. Zoro felt a tingle snake down his spine, his heart suddenly hammering in his chest. He was floored by the sensation of their mouths pressed together in a simple kiss. To Zoro, the world around them seemed to expand and contract at the same time. The kiss was everything. It was perfect.

Then, Sanji moaned softly against Zoro’s lips, tilted his head, and deepened the kiss. It was as if a match was dropped in a fireworks factory. Lust exploded in Zoro, rocking him to the core. His hand tangled into Sanji’s hair, mouth opening, moving against Sanji’s, tasting him, drinking him down. Sanji wasn’t a wallflower, instead pushing back, taking what he wanted, meeting Zoro passion for passion. The kiss ignited into a burning fire that had been between them all along, but instead of fighting each other, they were letting it fuel the flames of desire.

Sanji hooked an ankle around Zoro’s knee, bringing their pelvises flush together. Zoro could feel Sanji’s erection poking into his groin beneath the material of their shorts. Zoro’s cock hardened swiftly, want coating the back of his throat. His tongue tangled with Sanji’s in a duel of carnality that neither wanted to end. Zoro’s breath came in heavy pants as he kissed Sanji again and again. He couldn’t focus on anything other than the feel of Sanji’s lips, the taste of his tongue, the hunger that clawed at his gut. 

Sanji was the one that moved them, shoving Zoro in the direction of the bed. The kiss broke as Zoro crashed down onto his back on the soft surface, his feet still on the floor. Sanji straddled his lap, pressing his hands into the bedding on either side of Zoro’s head, looming over him with an expression heady with desire. He bent forward and kissed Zoro again as if Zoro were the last drink of water on the planet. Zoro wrapped his hands around Sanji’s back, feeling the strength and the shift of muscle beneath cloth and skin. His entire body felt like it was on fire. He needed to be naked, now. He needed Sanji to be naked. He needed to touch Sanji’s skin.

He tugged on Sanji’s shirt, pulling it upward, wanting to yank it over Sanji’s head. Sanji laughed against his lips and drew back. “You’re going to rip my shirt, shithead.”

“Don’t care. Off.” Zoro tugged at it some more. Sanji batted his hands away, sitting on Zoro’s lap. He began to unbutton the white shirt, revealing the tantalizing pale skin underneath inch by inch. Zoro fisted his hands, forcing himself not to grab and tear. When Sanji finally got the shirt undone, he shrugged it off his shoulders, twisting to toss it onto the chair.

Close up, Sanji’s musculature was more impressive than it had been on the other side of the cell bars. Zoro could see every defined ridge, every potent cut in Sanji’s torso. He was not lean, or lanky. His sculptured shape told a story of ability and vigor that could cut down the most daunting of foes. He had scars, too, some faded to near invisibility, others still pink from more recent battles. A testament of survival. He was powerful. He was gorgeous. He was Zoro’s.

Zoro couldn’t wait any longer. He brought his hands up and smoothed them over Sanji’s abdomen, up to his pecs, across his shoulders and down his muscular arms. Sanji’s pale peach nipples were hard. Zoro rubbed palms across them again, feeling them pebbled against his skin. Sanji watched him with hooded eyes, fingers tracing along the edge of Zoro’s tank. “You know that doesn’t do anything for me, right? I can only tell that your hands are touching me.”

Zoro felt a pang in his chest, right in the center of his heart. “I know.” This wasn’t pleasurable to Sanji. Zoro could feel every zing that Sanji’s fingertips were leaving across his skin. “Do you even feel the warmth?”

Sanji shook his head. “Only pressure.” 

Zoro’s lips turned down and Sanji clucked his tongue. “Only I’m allowed to feel shitty about myself.”

Zoro shoved down the feelings of unfairness, grabbed Sanji around the waist, and flipped them over. He blanketed Sanji with his body, chest-to-chest, groin-to-groin. “Feel the pressure now?”

Sanji wound his arms around Zoro’s neck. “Yes, you idiot. Now, stop thinking and get to fucking. Then I’ll really feel you.”

Zoro lowered his head and captured Sanji’s lips again. He poured all his longing and desire for Sanji into it, so Sanji would know that he was wanted, even with his body like this. Sanji hummed against Zoro’s lips and the internal fire started to build between them again.

Normally, when Zoro slept with a guy, he’d take the time to at least blow the man before fucking him. But Sanji didn’t want that. Zoro knew the act of reaching release that way or by hand was a means to an end. But Zoro knew how to pleasure a guy with his fingers, how to bring him off repeatedly that way.

Zoro tore away from Sanji’s heady mouth and straightened. He pulled his tank over his head, tossing it onto the floor. He grabbed the lube from his pocket, dropped it on the bed beside Sanji, and shed his boots and shorts. Naked and hard, he watched Sanji’s eyes trace over him as he undid the button and zipper on Sanji’s shorts. Sanji toed off his sandals, kicking them aside. He lifted his hips, feet still on the floor, to allow Zoro to drag his shorts and boxers down.

Sanji’s erection pointed upwards from a nest of dark blond curls. Zoro wished he could make Sanji cry out and writhe using his mouth, to worship him like he deserved. Zoro cursed every woman who’d ever been negative about Sanji’s cock while at the same time thanking them, because Zoro doubted he’d have gotten to have this at all if things hadn't gone as they had in the past. And Sanji was right, most guys didn’t care about dick size if they were doing the fucking. Zoro knew he didn’t. He liked to think that he wouldn’t care if it were reversed and he wanted to bottom. Because it was Sanji who mattered, not his cock. Like he’d said earlier, sex was just a bonus.

Zoro tossed Sanji’s shorts and boxers on the chair, knowing Sanji would throw a fit if they were crumpled on the floor. Prissy cook. Zoro’s lips twitched at the thought. Despite everything, Sanji still could drive him up a wall with his behavior. It didn’t make things dull, that was for sure.

“Are you going to stand there all night or are you going to get on with it?” Sanji said.

“Pushy.” Zoro grabbed the tube off the bed and then paused. “Would you feel my tongue on your hole?”

A red flush spread across Sanji’s face, down his neck, and over part of his chest. “I… maybe. I don’t know. That hasn’t been done since before my body changed.”

Zoro’s lips curved into a wicked smile. “Let’s find out.”

Sanji had showered, Zoro knew, having seen the evidence of damp hair. And since Sanji had planned to have sex with Zoro long before Zoro knew about it, Zoro was certain Sanji was clean. Zoro’s knees hit the beige carpet with twin thumps on the side of the bed and he draped Sanji’s bare knees over his shoulders. He scooted Sanji closer to the edge of the bed with guiding hands on his hips. The sight of Sanji’s genitals, right in front of Zoro’s face, turned him on fiercely. What he wouldn’t give for Sanji to be able to feel all the pleasure Zoro could’ve given him with his mouth and hands. 

Sanji propped his head with an arm behind it, watching down his body at what Zoro was doing. Zoro leaned in and inhaled. His eyes widened slightly when he caught the erotic, sensual scent of the amber soap on Sanji’s skin, mixed with the heavy musk of male arousal. Zoro’s heart turned over. Sanji had used the soap Zoro had given him. 

Zoro pressed a kiss to Sanji’s inner thigh, nuzzled his balls, then settled in to hopefully bring Sanji’s enjoyment. He used his hands to spread Sanji’s asscheeks further apart, leaned in, and laved his tongue over Sanji’s hole. Sanji continued to watch him with an aroused, weighty gaze. The lack of reaction meant the exterior wasn’t sensitive. Zoro licked several more times, getting the area nice and wet, before creating a point with the tip of his tongue and pressing in.

Sanji’s breath hitched. “I felt that.”

Zoro withdrew and pushed in again. He couldn’t go far, as human physiology wouldn’t allow it. But apparently it was enough to breach the extent of the exoskeleton. He heard Sanji moan softly, his thighs twitching against Zoro’s ears. Zoro smiled briefly, his teeth pressed against Sanji’s body, before using his thumbs to pull Sanji more open to his mouth and began tongue-fucking him in earnest.

“Oh!” Sanji's breathy gasp went right to Zoro’s cock. Zoro hummed with satisfaction, working Sanji over with his tongue, pushing it in and out as far as he could. He could feel Sanji tremble beneath his hands. Zoro closed his eye, inhaling the intoxicating scent of amber soap and Sanji’s musk as he pleasured Sanji. He was glad that this worked, glad that he was not one of those guys who refused to do it. Zoro might be an exclusive top, but he was not a lousy lover. 

“Zoro, it’s… there needs to be more,” Sanji said with a shaky voice. “It’s at the edge and I need… I want…”

Zoro understood. He snagged the lube again, opened it, and slicked up two fingers while still using his tongue. Then, he switched, dragging his lips up Sanji’s perineum, pressing his fingers inside. Sanji’s loud moan was exactly what Zoro wanted to hear. Zoro mouthed kisses over Sanji’s lightly furred balls as he finger-fucked Sanji. That Zoro’s kisses felt only like pressure didn’t matter, the affection did. He kissed up farther, nudging Sanji’s erection with his nose, breathing in Sanji’s dark scent. He brought his gaze up to Sanji’s face, which was slackened with pleasure, and watched greedily when his fingers expertly located the gland inside Sanji.

Sanji stuttered wordlessly, face twisting, skin stained with a sex flush. His legs jolted on Zoro’s shoulders as Zoro massaged his prostate. Sanji grasped the bedding on one side of him, his other hand coming down from behind his head to land on Zoro’s hair. Sanji petted him absently, encouragingly, his chest rising and falling with rapid breaths. Zoro didn’t let up, fingers rubbing the fleshy, soft spot inside of Sanji. 

Satisfaction rolled through Zoro when Sanji’s body tensed around his fingers and then Sanji’s shoulders lifted from the bed with a curse, “Fuck!” Sanji’s muscles spasmed around Zoro’s fingers, wave after wave, off-white ejaculate steadily streaming from his cock. Zoro paused for a moment, let Sanji come down from the prostate orgasm, and then started again.

Sanji began writhing beneath Zoro’s hand, legs tightening around Zoro’s shoulders. His head moved back and forth on the bedding as Zoro sought to drive him over the edge again. Zoro could spend the entire night just like this, on his knees between Sanji’s legs, using his fingers, ignoring his own throbbing erection. He lowered his mouth and licked at Sanji’s hole around his fingers, trying to push his tongue in as well. It wasn’t long before Sanji was cursing and jerking, body spasming, cock leaking. The tinted glass over the sconce light colored Sanji’s sex-flushed skin with a rosy glow. He was fucking gorgeous. 

Zoro brought Sanji off this way again and again, delighting in the sight of Sanji’s pleasure, of Sanji being able to feel, until Sanji was a shattered wreck, babbling nonsense, hair in complete disarray, tear streaks at the corners of his eyes. It was only then that Zoro closed his mouth over Sanji’s cock, using his lips to stimulate a penile orgasm. Sanji came quickly, his body having been on the edge of a regular climax until being touched. Zoro drank down the salty semen that erupted from Sanji’s cock as Sanji shook beneath him. 

Zoro slurped lewdly when he released Sanji’s cock from between his lips. He left his fingers sitting idly in Sanji’s body. Sanji was panting heavily, looking limp and wrung out. Zoro pressed a kiss to Sanji’s slowly softening cock. It had been nice not choking on it. He might decide, with Sanji’s permission, to give Sanji head anyway with how easy it was. He’d use his fingers and his mouth at the same time, so Sanji would still feel.

Sanji regained his bearings and slit open his eyelids. Zoro smiled softly at him. “I trust you felt that?” he teased.

“Get up here, you fucker.” Sanji tugged lightly at Zoro’s head. Zoro withdrew his fingers, got to his feet, and pressed himself over Sanji. Sanji pulled him down into a long, lingering, satiated kiss.

Zoro’s erection nestled into the crease of Sanji’s hip, the pressure like torture to his aching cock. He did his best to ignore it, involving himself fully in the kiss. But Sanji understood that Zoro was desperately wanting and he broke the kiss to murmur, “Fuck me.”

Zoro’s body tightened with lust. He nodded vigorously, which earned him a snicker. He straightened, trying to find the lube. He’d dropped it on the floor somewhere. 

Sanji moved on the bed, repositioning toward the center, lying in the correct direction. He settled on his stomach with a pillow supporting his hips. He folded his arms around another pillow beneath his turned head. He watched Zoro with sated eyes. 

Zoro found the lube partially under the bed. He used it, quickly slicking himself up. He dropped the tube on the bed before crawling over to Sanji. “Weigh me down,” Sanji implored quietly and Zoro felt a heart pang again. He would give Sanji anything he asked, now and always.

Zoro positioned himself between Sanji’s thighs, pressed the head of his slicked erection against Sanji’s finger-slicked hole, and pushed steadily in. Sanji exhaled a content sigh, his body blooming around Zoro’s cock. Sanji was hot, tight, and silky, and Zoro shut his eyes to rein in his control. He didn’t want to come already. 

When he was certain he wouldn’t go off, Zoro laid down over Sanji, pushing his arms beneath the pillow under Sanji’s head. Zoro clasped his hands over Sanji’s twining his fingers between Sanji’s own. His chest rested against Sanji’s back, pelvis flush against his ass. Zoro slid his knees further down, his legs against Sanji’s inner thighs and calves. He let his body relax onto Sanji, weighing him down like he wanted. He brushed a kiss against Sanji’s neck before resting his forehead against the nape. Then, he began to move.

Zoro rolled his hips slowly, drawing back and thrusting in. The exquisite pleasure surrounding his cock caused his eye to close. He released a breathy moan, rolling his hips again. He rarely took his time fucking someone, clammering to find his own release after ensuring they’d already came. This was different, the closeness, the deep sense of attachment, the tenderness and warm possession. 

“Feels good,” Sanji murmured with another soft sigh. Zoro’s fingers flexed around Sanji’s, holding his precious hands. He took Sanji slowly, body blanketing him, connecting them intimately. Zoro could feel the pressure building at the base of his spine, a steady increase in pleasure that caused a tingle in his balls. His breath gust against Sanj’s skin behind his shoulders, his entire being focused on the feelings surrounding him.

As he got close, his hips sped up on their own, increasing the pace, his hard cock spearing into Sanji again and again. Tension coiled in his groin and in his muscles. His breath began to stutter as arousal grew to its breaking point. He washed over the edge with a staggered jerk of his hips, pumping into Sanji before bottoming out. He spilled deep, his entire body spasming as he climaxed. His brain shut down as orgasm overwhelmed him.

When Zoro came back to himself, he brushed another kiss on Sanji’s neck before moving off of him. He shifted to Sanji’s side, draping an arm around Sanji’s waist, folding his other arm beneath his head on a second pillow. Sanji’s face was turned toward Zoro’s, his eyes soft, his lips curved affectionately. “Not bad, marimo,” he teased quietly.

“Hn.” Zoro moved a little closer until their noses and foreheads were almost touching. “Next time, we’ll break the bed.” 

Sanji chuckled softly. “I look forward to it.”

Zoro felt a content smile pull at his lips. “You do know I’m going to want to fuck you all the time now.”

“Tch. Pervert.”

Zoro’s hand drifted down to rest on the swell of Sanji’s ass. “I want you to be able to feel me even when I’m not inside you.”

Sanji’s eyes danced with amusement. “So romantic.”

Zoro had the urge to stick his tongue out at Sanji, so he did and wiggled it perversely. Color infused Sanji’s cheeks even as he chuckled again. Zoro moved in to press a kiss on the tip of Sanji’s nose before settling back on the pillow. “I want to be the only one you feel, too, from now on.”

Sanji went quiet, studying Zoro’s face. They hadn’t discussed exclusivity. Hadn’t discussed anything beyond admitting liking each other and Zoro wanting them to be together. Zoro didn’t want something casual or friends with benefits. He wanted something long-term, something permanent.

And he wanted the others to know, too. To not hide the fact that they were together. His friends already knew that he liked Sanji, but they didn’t know that Sanji reciprocated or that Sanji was even into guys. “I don’t want it to be a secret, either,” he added, holding Sanji’s gaze.

Sanji continued to stay silent. Zoro could almost see the tumultuous thoughts going through his head. Sanji would be weighing his desire for privacy, his reserve, his appearance and reputation, and his self-worth along with the idea that the crew would know. After learning who Sanji was as a person, his abusive background, Zoro understood how difficult it was for Sanji to feel secure in himself and his decisions. Especially after Sanji had made a mistake, going alone to face his former family, which only served to traumatize him again. 

Zoro ran his fingers lightly over Sanji’s ass, dipping between the cheeks, before sliding up to trace an absent pattern at the base of his spine. He let his mind drift while he waited patiently for Sanji to speak again. He thought about other ways he could bring Sanji pleasure, wondering if Sanji would be into them. He remembered Sanji had said he’d slept with a few women and was curious if there was a big difference between fucking a woman and fucking a man. Zoro had never been interested in women. Hard, muscular bodies and cocks turned him on. Sanji wasn’t gay to begin with, that seemed to be something he’d fallen into as an option to not feel like a disappointment. But he told Zoro that he liked having sex with men even before his body was modified and, while it wasn’t his natural state like it was Zoro’s, he had accepted his sexuality.

The fan whirred overhead, stirring the air. The bedding was soft beneath Zoro. He could hear the faint noises of people on the streets, going to and fro. Daylight had completely gone, no longer a faint outline around the curtained window. Zoro felt a bit hungry, though he didn’t want to leave the intimate cocoon of the hotel room. Not yet. He wanted to feel Sanji around him again, find the right angle, make Sanji come apart with his cock. He wanted to kiss Sanji again, hold him close, drink in the feel and taste of him. He wanted Sanji to know that every part of him was desired, physically and emotionally. 

Zoro’s hand drifted downward again, over Sanji’s ass, fingers brushing the used hole in between his cheeks. He recalled the pucker being swollen and red back in Coralhaven, a testament that Sanji’s body still reacted normally anal sex. Zoro desired to be the one who marked Sanji in that manner, leaving evidence of their coupling behind.

Sanji shifted his hips up, pushing against Zoro’s exploring fingers, and Zoro took it as permission to breach him again. Zoro’s two digits slipped easily past the ring of muscle, his hole still lubed from before. Sanji sighed as Zoro slid his fingers in and out, his eyes fluttering shut. “I think I’m okay with it,” he said, sounding unsure. “I don’t… I don’t want to be a disappointment.”

Zoro knew what Sanji was really saying, but he felt the need to lightly tease. “I know I’m not the greatest catch and they’ll probably question your sanity, but they already know I’ve been mooning over you like a lovesick teen so they’ll likely be more relieved that they don’t have to see it anymore.”

Sanji cracked an eye open. “Mooning?”

“Pretty badly.” Zoro worked a third finger into Sanji, sliding in and out with unhurried movements. “Usopp suggested I wear a dress and maybe that would get your interest.”

Sanji snorted. “You would look hideous in a dress.”

“I know.” Zoro bent his head and kissed Sanji’s shoulder. “Nami and Robin did say I could borrow one of their bras, though.”

Both of Sanji’s eyes opened at that, visible beneath the hair fanning around his face. “You said yes, right?”

Zoro chuckled. “Pervert.”

“Hn, yes.” Sanji’s lips curled naughtily in the corner. “Still adore women. That won’t change.”

“He says, while three of my fingers are up his ass,” Zoro taunted.

“Yes, well, sometimes I’m very gay, too,” Sanji said, unknowingly speaking the same words that had started the entire thing between them.

Zoro brushed another kiss on Sanji’s shoulder. “I’ll tell them we’re together now, so they won’t bother you with questions. We can pretend that you’re just gay for me, if you want.”

Sanji closed his eyes again and sighed. “Tempting. If someone asks me, maybe I’ll tell them. Maybe not. Be better if they don’t ask anything and simply accept it and not look at me differently. It’s already bad enough that my body is an abomination.”

Sanji really didn’t know their crew very well, did he? He’d kept himself in isolation and at a distance for too long. Zoro hoped, with time and the persistence of their friends, that would change. “I’m sure they’ll love you just the same.”

“You’re presuming they love me to begin with.”

Zoro shut his own eye at the pain in his heart and the rage he felt for the assholes who did this to Sanji. “Sanji, I know you have a hard time believing it, but we care about you as much as you care about us. We’re nakama. Your mere existence brings us joy. And if we have to, we will tell you that every day until you understand that you are precious to us.”

Sanji was quiet for a long moment before he swallowed thickly. He turned his face abruptly away from Zoro. “Are you going to fuck me again or what, stupid swordsman?”

“I can do that.” Zoro let the heavy moment slide. One day, Sanji would have enough self-worth to believe that people could love him. Zoro had an inkling of an idea to run across his friends to maybe help it along. But right now was the time for the two of them, not the others, and Zoro had a man to please.

Zoro shifted back onto his knees between Sanji’s legs, fingers still snug in Sanji’s ass. He reached over and snagged the lube. With a flip of the cap, he added more to his fingers on the drawback before feeding the slick in. Zoro continued to finger-fuck him slowly, three digits becoming four. His gaze roved over Sanji’s strong back, taking the time to really look at him now that Zoro wasn’t desperate to come. The rose glow from the sconce lights tinted his pale skin and the heavy network of scars criss-crossing his back. Like on his torso, some of the scars were newer, still pink, from battles within the New World. The rest were faded, some more than others. Several looked like surgery scars, others healed-over injuries. Zoro saw a straight, thin scar along his spine and surmised that one was Chopper’s doing, fixing Sanji’s broken back.

Zoro ran his gaze downward, over the swell of Sanji’s ass and the backs of his thighs. More scarring, though not as much on his ass. With a twist, Zoro could see a mishmash of scarring on his calves as well. Zoro’s body was littered with scars, too, but all of them were from being run through or from the environment, such as crashing into walls or falling into caverns. Sanji’s scars were a sign of abuse survival. Sanji had persevered against the Vinsmokes and Zeff with his pegleg. Sanji had mentioned during one of their conversations in the galley that Zeff used to kick his and all the other cooks’ asses regularly on the Baratie. Things Zoro wished he could go back in time to stop from happening. 

“What are you doing?” Sanji asked, as Zoro’s hand had stopped while he’d been distracted.

“Looking at how beautiful you are,” Zoro replied truthfully. 

The back of Sanji’s neck pinked. “Tch. Idiot marimo.”

Zoro bent forward and kissed a particularly nasty scar on Sanji’s shoulder. He started moving his hand again, still slow, four fingers in, stretching him, opening him. “Feel good?” Zoro asked.

“Yes.” Sanji was fully relaxed beneath him. “Feels fantastic.”

“Can I do more?” 

Sanji sucked in a short breath, his ass tightening around Zoro’s fingers. “Yessss,” he hissed on the exhale, and Zoro was suddenly hard as a rock again. 

The air changed, became electrified, the post-orgasmal lassitude becoming a rising tide of lust again. Zoro kissed Sanji’s back, moving his lips across Sanji’s skin as he moved his four fingers in and out. Sanji shifted beneath Zoro in anticipation, an aroused flush spreading across his body.

Zoro knelt back, grabbed the lube, and added much more to his hand. Coated with the thick, slick substance, Zoro dropped the tube on the bed, curved his thumb into the well his fingers made when he drew back, and slid all five into Sanji’s hole. Sanji made a throaty sound of pleasure, ass lifting to accept Zoro’s hand. Zoro kept pushing until he was up to his wrist, then he slowly curled his fingers over his thumb, creating a fist. 

“Oh, fuck. Fuck,” Sanji said in a reedy voice. He turned his head, pressing his forehead onto the pillow, shoulders lifted slightly. “So fucking full.”

“Good?” Zoro twisted his fist, his knuckles bumping against Sanji’s prostate. The noise Sanji made in response went straight to Zoro’s cock, causing it to leak. A lascivious smile spread across Zoro’s lips. “Hm, I take it that’s a yes.”

He began to move his fist, pulling out slightly, stretching Sanji’s hole extra wide, before screwing back in, raking his knuckles against Sanji’s prostate every time. Sanji clawed at the bedding, making wild sounds, knees digging into the mattress, hips lifting. He started fucking himself on Zoro’s fist, taking Zoro deeper. Zoro kept turning his hand back and forth, watching Sanji’s hole become swollen and red. The lubricant made lewd, wet noises as Zoro fisted him.

Zoro grabbed his own turgid shaft with his other hand, grateful to be ambidextrous. He started jerking off to the erotic sight of his fist stretching Sanji wide before plunging back in. Sanji was fucking himself hard now, entire body rocking back and forth on the bed. A part of Zoro’s forearm became coated in lube from the copious amount Zoro had used to initially penetrate Sanji’s hole.

There was no question that Sanji felt all of this. Zoro’s hand worked his erection as Sanji worked himself on Zoro’s other fist. The bed rocked, the lube squelched, Zoro twisted his fist. Sanji’s keening grabbed Zoro by the balls and shocked him with immeasurable lust. Zoro was the one causing Sanji to break apart and he wanted to beat his chest with pride.

Instead, he jacked himself into a body-wracking orgasm, shooting onto Sanji’s ass, painting him with semen. Then, Zoro sat on his heels, sloe-eyed and spent, and helped Sanji to take his pleasure for as long as he wanted, well into the night.

They didn’t manage to break the bed, but Sanji did lose his voice. And afterwards, they cleaned up in the shower together before stumbling back to the bed, falling into an entangled, satiated sleep. 

Dead Soul Oasis was a stopover island that had been abandoned long ago. The former town stood in ruins, its tan sandstone buildings crumbling back into sand. The remains of time forgotten were etched into the desert. Sandstorms had swept through, recarving the landscape, creating dunes and shifting slopes. The falling buildings poked up through the sand like desperate sentinels of what once was.

The crack of a cannon being fired ripped through the air. A few seconds later, Zoro dodged another explosion of metal that attempted to rain down on his head. His boots slipped in the sand as he ran up a dune in the abandoned city. Another loud crack was heard followed by the whistle of a cannonball coming their way. The dust was heavy in the air, the dunes a mess of burning holes and the acrid scent of brimstone.

Sanji leapt into a Sky Walk at the last moment and kicked the cannonball back at the marine ship at the port. The marine ship had arrived, cannons blazing, a half-hour ago. The crew was supposed to be meeting with Smoker to pass on the documents found in Red Jack’s vault, as they trusted the man’s integrity. Something had obviously happened, the den den mushi call tapped or overheard, as Smoker’s ship wasn’t due for another day. 

Zoro dug his hands into the dune as it grew steeper, racing for the top. The Sunny was anchored on the opposite side of the island. The crew had split up to explore the area while they waited for the day to end. He’d gone off with Sanji to secure the main port in anticipation of their meeting with Smoker the next day. They’d been poking around the sand-infested buildings, keeping an eye out for snakes.

“Franky wanted to know where you got that soap you gave me,” Sanji had been saying, as he ducked beneath a doorway into another room. “Said that I always looked and smelled nice and he wanted to up his game.”

Zoro brushed the sand away from one of the walls where he’d spotted faded painting. It looked like a mural of some sort had once adorned the ruin. “Kingfisher Island,” he said. “And you do always look and smell nice.”

Sanji was currently wearing a black suit with green shirt and darker green tie. Smoke curled from the cigarette between his lips. Zoro thought he looked gorgeous, as usual. “Hn.” Sanji was dismissive. “That’s because I shower regularly, unlike you oafs.”

Once they’d set sail from Howler Bay three weeks back, Zoro had told the crew, one-by-one, that Sanji and he were together, answering any questions they had, which were few and mostly about practicing safe sex (Chopper), if they’d need a double bed (Franky), and whether Sanji could make more meat (Luffy). As Zoro had already known, the crew was supportive, and teasingly congratulatory toward Zoro. Zoro didn’t mind the ribbing, but he dropped a strong hint not to tease Sanji too much.

Which led to what Zoro called Operation Nakama and Nami called Operation Get Sanji’s Head Out Of His Ass. Zoro had gathered Nami, Robin, Usopp, and Franky together a few days after they were back at sea and told them that Sanji needed more love from the crew. Without breaking confidence, Zoro shared that between Sanji’s past and the genetic modifications they all knew about, Sanji could use reminding that everyone wanted him on the ship, that he was cared for, and that he was important to the crew beyond his ability to cook. He was nakama.

Zoro’s four, wonderful friends took it into their hands, brought in the rest of the crew, and peppered Sanji regularly with non-cooking compliments, words of encouragement, and affection. They didn’t inundate him because Sanji would freak out – he was getting better at having men other than Zoro consistently hang out with him in the galley, but the girls continued to make him panic and overcompensate. But a casual reminder of Sanji’s value to them here or there, in passing, would hopefully serve to bring Sanji the peace of mind that he denied himself and maybe finally free him from his invisible iron mask.

Zoro eyed a hole in the sand with tiny bits of plants encircling it. Multiple eyes stared back from the darkened depths. “I shower,” Zoro told Sanji, responding to his jibe. “You haven’t complained.”

“I can hold my breath for a long time.”

They fell into familiar, random bickering after that, about bathing, clothing choices, the color of Zoro’s hair. Zoro unearthed a termite mound, which sent them scurrying in different directions. Naturally, Zoro got lost within a few minutes, but instead of wandering aimlessly, he’d hoisted himself on top of a tall dune, took a seat, and waited for Sanji to find him.

The marines had arrived then, cannons firing, the metallic gray ship waving its blue and white flag. Zoro jumped to his feet, slicing through the first cannonball that arced right toward him. “Shit!” 

Sanji suddenly appeared by his side, grabbing his arm. “Let’s go!”

Zoro pivoted on his heel on the dune and started running with Sanji at his side. Sanji must’ve spotted him and been walking in his direction when the attack happened. Zoro knew Sanji’s body modifications included phenomenal speed. It wasn’t a surprise that he’d popped into existence beside him.

The sand dunes were slippery and shifted under every running step. Zoro felt the faint burn in his thighs as he crested one side and ran down the other. Although he and Sanji could likely take on the marine ship and win, it was more important to regroup with their crew and ensure their safety. They also didn’t know if there was a Devil Fruit user on board. If Luffy wanted to attack the ship after they were all accounted for, Zoro was all for it.

Another explosion rocked the island. Zoro saw a wall of stone ahead of him, still standing. With a few running steps up the side, he managed to latch onto the top ledge. He used his fingertips to easily pull himself up. All that training had paid off. Zoro darted across the top of the wall to the far side before leaping onto another sand dune. He did a forward roll down the backside, increasing the speed of his descent. 

Sanji appeared in front of him again, shoulders back, eyes dancing, a cocky grin on his face. He leapt up, spun, and kicked an arcing cannonball away before nimbly landing on his feet again. Confidence radiated from him in the heat of danger. He knew he was strong, powerful, and able to kick ass. 

Zoro was turned on something fierce. He wanted to tackle Sanji onto one of these dunes and screw his brains out. This facet of Sanji’s personality he liked just as much as all the other parts that made up the complicated man who’d grown from a person Zoro actively antagonized into a close friend and now a lover. Zoro felt a swell of pride that Sanji would even look in his direction, let alone want to be with him.

Zoro tore through the path that wove between the dunes, Sanji once again at his side. Together, they ran across the shifting desert sands under the fire of cannonballs, racing toward their nakama beneath the blazing sun. 

“Zoro! Sanji! Get on!” Luffy shouted to them, as he lifted Nami onto the Sunny, which was already moving away from the island. “We’re going to attack the marines!”

Sanji pulled ahead of Zoro and skidded to a stop at the end of the bay. He pivoted on his heel, leg extended in a spin kick. Zoro leapt onto Sanji’s leg and Sanji propelled him through the air onto the departing Sunny’s deck. Zoro rolled as he landed, coming up to his feet to immediately help secure the mooring lines. Sanji landed on the main deck a second later. 

Usopp was scrambling up the rigging to the external crow’s nest on the main mast. Franky had gone below to prime the cannons. Luffy flung himself onto the Sunny’s figurehead with a shout of glee as Jinbe guided the ship around the curve of the island.

Franky opened fire the second the marine ship came into range. The Sunny shook with the force behind the cannons. Usopp began sniping marines in the other ship’s rigging and crow’s nest, taking them out with exploding stars. Zoro stood in anticipation up on the helm deck, Sanji beside him, watching as Jinbe expertly brought them into boarding distance. 

“Bet I get more than you,” Sanji said, straightening his tie and tapping his toe on the ground. 

Zoro tied his bandana around his head. “Ha. Fat chance.” 

Luffy reached his arm back, slinging it around them both, as his other hand stretched for the marine ship. “Gomu gomu no Rocket!”

The three of them flew to the other ship, separating mid-air to land in different places with an eruption of force that knocked deck-stationed marines off their feet. Zoro drew his swords, placing one in his mouth, and became a whirlwind of action. He slashed, sliced, and downed marines, cutting through rifles before they had a chance to fire. His mental tally went up with every marine he felled. He spotted Sanji at one point, being fired upon by multiple marines at point-blank range, and for an instant he panicked. But the bullets bounced right off Sanji’s body, falling harmlessly to the ground. Sanji may hate his modifications, but Zoro was selfishly thankful for them. Sanji whirled into a handstand, flaming leg kicking all eight across the faces, sending them flying. He flipped upright and ran off to another part of the ship.

The marines were little match for the Monster Trio. Joy Boy tied the giant zoan viper into a bow around the broken main mast. Zoro herded those who’d surrendered into the hold and locked them in. Sanji disappeared into the Captain’s cabin and returned with evidence of the den den mushi call’s interception.

Back on board the Sunny, Sanji gave the evidence to Robin, grabbed Zoro’s wrist, and dragged him in the direction of the men’s quarters. “We’re changing. Don’t come in until we come out!”

Zoro grinned libidinously at Robin’s knowing smile and Franky’s wiggling eyebrows. He allowed himself to be hauled off to the men’s quarters, where Sanji promptly kicked him onto the sunken sofa, stripped him down, and rode him into oblivion. 

Zoro didn’t care that Sanji won the bet, after that.

Cantigi Reef was little more than a stretch of white sandy beach surrounding a central coral lagoon that was shallow enough for the non-swimmers to enjoy. A few palm trees and native grasses sprinkled the cay. The Thousand Sunny anchored nearby and Franky ferried everyone over on the Mini Merry II, along with supplies for a day at the beach. The weather was clear, the sky beautiful, the sun warm but not overly hot. A perfect day to relax and unwind with nothing pressing to attend to after a month at sea.

Zoro sprawled in the sand near Nami and Robin, who were lounging on towels beneath the shade of a palm tree. His skin was damp from being in the lagoon with the others. Everyone wore their bathing suits – or everyday clothes for Franky – and were enjoying playing in the water and on the beach. Usopp, Brook, Jinbe, Sanji, and Franky were kicking a ball around. Chopper and Luffy were splashing around in the lagoon. Zoro watched Sanji throw his arms in the air, shouting that he was open, his blue swim trunks highlighting his muscles. 

“Sanji looks happy,” Robin commented, pushing her sunglasses up onto her forehead. She set her finger on the page of her book. 

“Yeah, he does,” Zoro agreed. Sanji’s smile and freedom of movement were genuine. He wasn’t trying to impress anyone or put on a false front. He rarely let himself play with the others, always making himself busy by cooking. It was nice to see him join in.

Jinbe kicked the ball to Sanji, who booted it across the sand toward the makeshift goal line set up with empty bottles thrust into the sand. Usopp dove for the ball, sending up a cloud of sand, stopping it before it went in. He jumped to his feet, lifted the ball over his head, and tossed it to Franky, who headbutted it across the beach. It flew between Brook’s ribs and his pelvis and over their goal line. Sanji started shouting at Brook, flailing his hands. Brook’s yo-ho-ho rolled across the sand. Jinbe laughed heartily. 

“While you are both here, I wondered if I might ask… what do you think about Franky?” Robin ventured tentatively.

“Big, relatively stupid, doesn’t believe in pants,” Nami listed. She leaned forward, resting her arms on her raised knees. Her bright bikini matched her hair. “Loyal, silly, can kill people with his farts.”

Zoro glanced back at Robin with a lift of his brow. “What’s this about?”

“I was thinking of asking him out on a date,” Robin said.

“Aren’t you already dating?” Zoro said. He seemed to recall Franky propositioning her months and months ago.

“No. It has only been a flirtation.” Robin’s cheeks pinked. “With you and Sanji leading the way, I thought perhaps I should try for something more.”

Nami grinned widely. “Robin, you’ve been holding out on me.”

“Hey, do what makes you happy. I’m for it,” Zoro said. “And if it doesn’t work, I can disassemble him and we’ll sell him for scrap.”

“Oooh, I wonder how much I can get for cyborg parts.” Nami’s eyes glazed over as she went into her fantasyland of greed.

Robin’s gaze went over to Franky, who was hoisting Usopp onto his shoulders to block a shot. “I shall ask him on a date, then.”

Zoro reached over and squeezed Robin’s bare foot briefly in friendship and encouragement. 

“Waaah! Luffy’s drowning!” Chopper screamed from the lagoon. 

Zoro rolled his eyes and climbed to his feet. “Moron duty calls.” He jogged over to the lagoon. Chopper was hopping from hoof-to-hoof in a panic, pointing at Luffy, who was lying on the bottom of the shallow lagoon. His eyes were closed, his body limp. Luffy could stand up anytime, but the idiot probably forgot.

Zoro waded into the water, intending to grab Luffy and shake some sense into him, when he was the one who ended up being grabbed by a suddenly grinning rubber-lunatic. Then, he was tackled from behind by Chopper in Heavy Point with a loud, “Sneak attack!” Zoro crashed into the water of the lagoon with a huge splash.

Zoro wrestled with his two friends in the lagoon, tangling in the water like eels until they all surfaced, sputtering for breath. After a beat, they jumped on each other again with squeals and laughter and shouts of profanity until they finally tuckered out. Luffy collapsed on the edge of the lagoon, arms and legs starfished, and he immediately started snoring beneath the sunny sky. Chopper shook water from his fur before going to join Robin and Nami in the shade for a nap.

A shadow blocked Zoro and he peered up from his seat in the sand, his legs still extended in the water. Sanji stood above him, grinning. “You have a snail sitting in your hair.”

Zoro reached up and felt around his head. Sure enough, a coin-sized snail with an orange-yellow swirled shell had been nestled in his hair. He set it free back in the lagoon. 

“Must’ve thought you were seaweed,” Sanji teased, folding himself into a sitting position beside Zoro. He glanced at Luffy affectionately as Luffy let out a loud snore.

“Who won?” Zoro asked him, surreptitiously checking his hair for more marine life. They had been churning up the sand at the bottom of the lagoon.

“Franky and Usopp, but only because I let them,” Sanji said. He’d brought his pack of cigarettes and lighter with him, and he drew one between his lips. “I could kick that ball into orbit, if I wanted.”

“Heh. Would be a short game, then,” Zoro said.

Sanji lit up, tucked the pack and lighter into the pocket in his trunks, and inhaled on the cigarette. “True.”

Zoro drew his knees up and balanced his forearms on them. He turned his head, resting his cheek on his arm, looking at Sanji. The play of sun and shadow emphasized the angles of Sanji’s face and the definition of his muscles in his chest, arms, and legs. The blue from the lagoon reflected in his eyes as he looked off in the distance. His long fingers came to his mouth as he took another puff on his cigarette before lowering again. His shoulders were relaxed, his expression at ease. He looked beautiful at that moment, filled with serene contentment. 

Zoro felt the expansive sensation in his chest, the one he’d been feeling off and on since The Whispering Isle. He knew what it meant, now. “I love you. You know that, right?”

Sanji froze, hand partway to his mouth again. Zoro looked away from Sanji, resting his chin on his arm, gazing out over the horizon. The white sands of the island gave way to the foamy surf and onto the expanse of blue ocean. The Sunny bobbed idly on the slow rolling waves. Soft, fluffy clouds of white drifted overhead. A bird soared in the distance, merely a spec against the sky.

Zoro wondered what Sanji would be making for dinner. He’d brought supplies over for a beach barbeque. Maybe hamburgers, hot dogs, and ribs. They’d killed that dinosaur on the last island, working together to bring it down in a few kicks and slices. No need for competition, they worked better in harmony. The meat from the dinosaur had been butchered and in cold storage. It’d be a good day to bring it out, barbeque the rib meat. Sanji always made a variety of sauces, from sweet to eyelash-curling spicy, when he cooked ribs. 

“Oi, Zoro!” Franky called from the other side of the beach. “Come and help me build this bonfire!”

Zoro unfolded himself from the ground, brushing the damp sand from the back of his trunks. He turned to go, the sand warm under his bare feet. He’d gone a couple yards when Sanji’s voice rose up behind him.

“I believe you.”

Zoro turned back and found Sanji standing there, wearing his emotions plainly on his face. The cigarette was gone and his hands were clenched into determined fists. “I believe you,” he repeated.

Zoro closed the distance between them again in a few steps. He captured Sanji’s face between his hands and kissed him with all the love and happiness he could pour into it. Because for Sanji to believe it, he had to feel that he was worth loving.

Zoro drew back and rested his forehead against Sanji’s. A stupid smile eclipsed his face. “Robin’s gonna ask Franky out on a date,” he said, because Sanji didn’t need to feel pressured to say anything else. He’d filled Zoro’s heart enough already.

“Really?” Sanji brushed his fingers along Zoro’s sides, lightly caressing above the waistband of his swim trunks. “My hopes are now dashed for a future with my sweet dove.”

Zoro snorted. “Your sweet dove is the one who put the itching powder in your boxers.”

“What?!” Sanji jerked his head up, staring at Zoro in shock. “She would never!”

“She did. It was a dare from Usopp.” Zoro slung his arm around Sanji’s shoulder, heading in Franky’s direction. “You should let her into the kitchen to hang out with you, get to know her better. You’ll find she’s a devious vixen.”

“My worldview has been tainted,” Sanji said dramatically. “Next, you’ll be telling me that Nami gives away treasure.”

“Well…” Zoro had helped Nami leave those gold bars at the orphanage on Howler Bay. 

“No!”

Zoro grinned, knocking his hip against Sanji’s. Ahead of them, Franky was erecting a giant bonfire pit while Usopp made calculations in the sand. Chopper was snoozing on Robin’s lap as Nami braided Robin’s hair, the two of them talking quietly. Brook was standing on the shoreline, the waves washing over his boney feet. Jinbe popped up from the surf in front of him, offering a large conch shell. Brook accepted it and began to blow a melodic tune.

Sanji muttered something about the universe imploding, his hand warm around Zoro’s side. Zoro took a deep breath of the ocean air and caught the faint scent of amber soap on Sanji’s bare skin. Zoro smiled to himself. He was happy, in love, and Sanji believed. “Any chance you brought the ribs for the barbeque…?”

End