Hey there, this is a fic based of of zosan-no-mi's Sculptor AU that was posted about a month ago with a drawing of Zoro's Asura sculpture.

"Sanji is a sculptor who fell in love with a statue of Zoro. With the help of the artist who did the piece, the "Great" Usopp, he went out of his way to meet the real deal only to find that the man was an annoying piece of shit. Would he hate the masterpiece now? Or would Zoro become his life's most valuable lesson that real beauty is more than just skin deep?"

And then Fen made some more really awesome art for it, and I reblogged it and wrote in the tags something along the lines of "I can't get this out of my head" and "I need to stop stealing other peoples AU's"

BUT FEN READ THEM. FEN READ THEM AND REBLOGGED IT WITH MY TAGS AND TOLD ME TO WRITE IT. And then I got a message in my inbox with "WRITE IT" x10

So after some serious fangirling because "oh my god zosan-no-mi noticed me? What?" I started writing, and then after a whole month I finished it. Usually it takes me that long to do promt/aus that I find (steal) from the zosan tumblr bloggers I follow because I want it to be good enough for them and then I stress and over edit. But I am a little bit of an art nerd, so this was fun, and I got to worship Zoro, which was even better.

Anyway this is my attempt at putting zosan-no-mi's amazing AU into writing. The cover image is one of the drawings zosan-no-mi didm it's the side view of Asura :D

Chapter 1

The Ideal Man

Sanji Black was a sculptor, an artist and a master of his art form. He loved the feeling of the smooth clay shifting beneath his fingers, the pliable substance bending to his every whim and will, matching the body he was copying perfectly. Sanji wasn't just good, he was amazing, he was one of the best at his craft, and he knew it.

He was a prodigy. You could blindfold him and place an object in his hands and he could replicate it perfectly. Most people figured he was lying at first, and so he challenged them. Whenever his models found out he had to feel them in order to sculpt them, be it clay, marble or other, they accused him of being a pervert. Of course, he was a pervert, but when it came to his art, his dream, he put his voyeurism aside. He would explain how he sculpted and then would send them off to find objects. Once he had perfectly cloned the object, they had no qualms about letting him touch them.

The best part of sculpting was not having an excuse to feel up his muses, no that was not it at all, though that was a definite plus. Not the best part of sculpting was melding and creating something that was so life like it could take your breath away. All he had to do was find the soul of the medium, visualize the personality of his muse and then he could clone their physical form perfectly and have their character shine through.

To be good at an art, a person has to be able to translate, make it so people with little to no taste could understand. It took talent and dedication, but those who succeeded were the artists whose names were well know, like Picasso, Michelangelo and Da Vinci. Artists lived life to the fullest, and loved freely. Sometimes a little too freely. At least Sanji did. He threw himself at women and flirted ridiculously. He always respected women, it was just sometimes they found it to be too much. Which was why he stayed single with the odd fling thrown in every few months. It was great for his career and work, but not so great for his mental health, which was why he made time for his friends whenever possible. If any one of his friends asked him to do something, he would do it in a heartbeat, it was the kind of person he was.

Which is how he found himself holding a glass of cheap red wine staring at a six foot sculpture of an eerily familiar looking cyborg in a speedo.

"What do you think of the exhibit Sanji-san?" Robin asked, walking up with Nami. Both looked divine in their dresses, Robin stunned in a modest black dress, looking every part the beautiful museum manager, and Nami wowed in a short red number that had heads turning. He had lost them when he had stopped to stare at an incredibly detailed painting of different types of fish in the ocean. Sadly the artist of that particular painting was not at the opening of the exhibit so he couldn't commend him on such an amazing piece. So Sanji had found his way to the new exhibit hoping to find his lovely ladies and had found this… thing.

"Sanji-kun?" Nami asked, waving a hand in front of his face, "You alright?"

"I'm fine my sweet, thank you, I'm just slightly shocked from the… scene in front of me." Sanji said, taking a large sip of his wine. The piece was well done, the details were impeccable, it was just weird. Very weird.

"Yes, the artist has an interesting style, but Franky will be pleased with it, it has an incredible resemblance to him." Robin said, smiling at the sculpture. Sanji stared owlishly at her and stared back up at the cyborg, "That's FRANKY?! As in your fiancé Franky?"

Now that it had been pointed out he could definitely see it, the crazy hair style, the strange pose and large arms with star tattoos… how had he not noticed before? Maybe it had something to do with the cyborgs clothing, or lack of….

"Yeah, the artist, Usopp, sculpts his friends." Nami said, gesturing around the gallery, "They're part of a set call One Piece, and they're all part of some alternate universe where there's a bunch of pirates. This is Cyborg, he's the shipwright."

Sanji shook his head in amazement, "What other members of the ship does he have?"

"A musician, a captain, a sniper, a doctor, an archeologist, and a swordsman." Robin said, "If you'll follow me, I can show you the rest."

Sanji followed them, slightly in awe at this artist's talent. He was a good sculptor himself, but he man seemed to imbed a large piece of his subject's personality into the work, making it completely that person. Cyborg had seemed like he would yell "Super!" any moment. Maybe Sanji would have to start sculpting his friends to get that level of animation, maybe Nami would agree…

"This is based off of Brook, the musician that performs here sometimes." Robin said, pointing at a statue to their right. The musician, Humming Bones, was a seven foot skeleton with a violin resting on his shoulder. He held the bow up in greeting in his right hand while his face held a slightly creepy skeletal grin. The more Sanji looked at the skeleton, the more it seemed like it was laughing at him. He shivered slightly and followed the ladies on to the next piece.

"Remember Luffy? The guy I introduced you to a few months ago?" Nami asked. Sanji nodded, the kid was extremely hyper active and had begged Sanji to give him food. He'd seen him a few times since then, and he had to admit the guy was fun to be around.

Nami pointed at the next sculpture, "He's the captain."

The captain was a young boy with a freakishly large grin on his face and a scar under his left eye. One arm was extended, literally stretched five feet over his head grasping a straw hat in his hand, the other was drawn back in a fist like he was going to punch whoever was in front of him. It was totally Luffy, he could almost hear the kid's wild laughter.

"Is he some kind of stretchy man?" Sanji asked, glancing a Robin. The brunette shrugged "Rubber man I think."

Sanji nodded and started walking towards the next sculpture, what was the point of even asking questions?

The next statue was the sniper, a medium built man with thick curly black hair and a ridiculously long nose in overalls. He seemed to be the first regular person in the series, other than the nose of course. His face was set in a determined glare, and he had a weird looking weapon in his hand that looked like some kind of sling shot. It was titled The Great Sogeking. Underneath the title there was a long paragraph of writing, something that was not done on the others. Sanji leaned in to read the small lettering but Nami tugged him back.

"Usopp based this off of himself, the little paragraph is just a huge story about how great 'The Great Sogeking' is amazing and how he exemplifies the artists inner warrior. He actually calls himself the Great Usopp in most of his interviews." Nami said, pulling Sanji to the next one, "This is The World Greatest Doctor. In real life he's one of Luffy and Usopp's friends, his name's Chopper and he's only 17, but he's already becoming respected doctor."

Sanji looked at the little reindeer like person, it looked flustered and was holding a stethoscope. His hat was huge, about the same size as his head and his little antlers barely reached over it. He was about to ask about the reindeer part of the sculpture, but Nami dragged him off again, followed by the chuckling Robin. Before they reached the next one, Nami covered Sanji's eyes, leading him forward with a hand on his arm.

"Robin you have to explain this one!" Nami said, grinning at her friend. Sanji wiggled his head, trying to escape her hand so he could see the sculpture but Nami kept it in place until they were in the perfect position. When Nami finally removed her hand, Sanjji gasped, it was Robin, her head was bowed and her arms were crossed in front of her, and she had multiple other hands sprouting from her shoulders and the platform around her. She was dressed in what Sanji knew was her favorite pair of jeans, purple jacket and white cowgirl hat. The statue's eyes were closed and a small serene small graced her stone features.

"This is Sies Fleur, the archeologist of the Mugiwara pirates. She has the ability to sprout body parts from anywhere. And yes, I modeled for him." Robin said with a small smile that matched the statues.

"Robin-chwan! It is almost as beautiful as you! Of course, your real beauty cannot be captured in any materiel It is far too radiant!" Sanji gushed, swooning over the woman. Robin merely brushed him off, "The next statue is by far the best."

"Nothing is better than Robin-chwan! Or Nami-swan!" Sanji protested, following the two women to the next piece.

"This one has been extremely popular." Robin said as the led the other two to the end of the hall, "I'm glad our staff noticed the quality of his piece and placed it a little further away from the others, otherwise the other statues might have been blocked by the crowd."

"What's so great about this piece?" Sanji asked, his hands in his pockets, flicking his lighter. He was dying for a smoke, it had been almost 5 hours since his last cigarette, and a man could only survive so long without his addiction.

"Think Michelangelo's David, only built in proportion for being on the ground." Robin explained.

"He copied David?" Sanji asked, quirking a curled eyebrow. Robin smiled and shook her head, "No I was merely giving you a reference, this statue looks nothing like David, it just follows the same principles. A warrior and the human ideal."

Nami furrowed her brow in confusion and looked like she wanted to ask Robin something, but Robin was already making her way through the crowd in front of the statue. Sanji shrugged at Nami and they both started elbowing their way in. When they finally made it to the front of the crowd, Sanji's jaw dropped. He had thought Robin was building the statue up when she had compared it to David, which was in fact the embodiment of the ideal male image, but this, this was… there were no words to describe it.

The stone man had three heads and six arms, each arm held a sword. It almost seemed like the 'great' Usopp had frozen this man mid attack. Each face held a look of pure concentration, determination and murderous intent as the stone captured him on his way to finish the final blow. It was a sublime balance of power and beauty. Sanji could almost see the sweat making its way down his body, trailing over the hard muscles in rivulets. This man, whoever he was, was in perfect shape, his body was packed with large and toned muscle. How the hell had Usopp carved something like this?

Sanji couldn't tear his eyes away from the stone body. As an artist, he made it his business to know what people, women specifically, found attractive; this sculpture was definitely one of them. The sculpture, Asura the swordsman as it said on the plaque, was a perfect example of classical humanism, based off of Greek and Roman ideas and foundations, a major part of which is fascination with the human body. Asura was buff, and perfectly muscled, which was highly revered in Greek and Roman eras. The chiselled edges of his body and his swords made him the epitome of male beauty. Even with the extra heads and arms, in fact they almost added to the attraction.

"Falling in love Sanji-kun?' Nami asked teasingly. Sanji could only nod as his eyes greedily took in the sight of Asura.

"He is incredible, isn't he?" Robin said with a hint of a smile in her voice. Sanji nodded again, going into complete sculptor mode, "He's perfect, he has all the physical attributes people find most attractive in men, broad forehead, chiselled jaw, prominent chin and brow, and those cheekbones, I don't know if I've seen better cheekbones ever. And his face is symmetrical, that is just… it's a sign of health and vitality, not to mention it helps with his attractiveness. His body is smooth there's no roughness, except for those scares, oh god those scars just add to the appeal. The scars are horrendous looking, and you can tell he is a battle hardened warrior, and by the look of some of those scars he's had battles where he's barely escaped with his life. The swords also add to that angle, I mean he has six swords! Six! Asura is definitely portrayed as an incredible warrior. He has broad shoulders, a muscular chest and a slim waist, all very attractive, it also shows he is powerful and agile at the same time. There doesn't seem to be any fat on his body, it's all muscle, all perfect muscle. He's tall, which can be associated with power and wealth, but it's mostly dominance and protection. Which women, and some men love. He's the perfect male. Evidently the extra limbs aren't exactly considered part or the perfect male image, but even with them he would be perfect in real life. Each face is so unique even though they're the same man, each arm emphasises a different muscle without seeming forced… He's incredible."

Nami snorted, "I was kidding when I asked if you were falling in love."

Sanji tore his eyes away from the statue and shot Nami a cheeky grin, "maybe I wasn't"

Robin chuckled as Nami gaped, really she should have been used to Sanji's antics by then, but he always seemed to surprise her. He was joking right?

"Sanji- kun…" She started, but Sanji already had his attention back on the stone man. He had once heard that sculpting was considered the finest form of art because it was similar to divine creation. There were many times Sanji had thought back to those words, and this was definitely one of them. He was definitely a perfect male specimen, the ideal lover for some, a role model for others. If this person was real they had to do nothing but work out and perfect that body all day long…

Was this person real? Sanji searched the stone face for anything familiar. He knew many of the friends that had posed for Usopp, so maybe he knew this one?

Slowly Sanji circled around Asura, his eyes mapping out every ridge of muscle, following and studying all of his perfect body. The detail in each of the arms was different, he had obviously sculpted the arms in different positions, focusing on the muscle positions and the bulges that stood out in each position. Usopp had gone all out, the detail continued on to Asura's back, the hard muscle, the seemingly rippling skin. The only difference was there were no scars to mar the perfection of this man on his back.

'Does that mean no one's ever snuck up on him? Or that he's never turned his back on an enemy?' Sanji mused as he completed his circle.

"Robin"

"Yes sculptor-san?"

"Is Usopp here tonight?" He hadn't looked away from the statue.

"He should be, I haven't seen him yet." Robin said. Nami quirked a perfectly plucked eyebrow as she watched Sanji, "Why do you need Usopp?"

Sanji turned to face them, a large grin on his face. He jerked his thumb over his shoulder at the statue, "I must meet this man."