Title Lull
Fandom One Piece
Pairing Zoro/Sanji
Rating PG
Word count over 4000
AN: This was originally going to be a fic for Sanji's birthday, but it took me over a month to edit and finish it.

I do not own One Piece or the characters mentioned in this fic. They all belong to Oda-sensei.

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Sanji stood leaning on the railing outside the galley, looking down on the grassy deck. He was smoking idly, enjoying the momentary tranquility that surprisingly seemed to surround the incessantly bustling Thousand Sunny.

From his spot he could still sense everyone's presence even if he didn't see them all from where he was standing. He could easily tell that somewhere behind him Luffy was trying to fish with Usopp and Chopper. Their enthusiastic voices could be heard, but this time they weren't too loud. It would be pleasant if they caught something big and juicy, then they could have fresh fish for dinner and perhaps sashimi for breakfast. Sanji was silently looking forward to it although he didn't expect much from the three goofs.

Since only a while ago he had taken refreshing cold drinks to Nami-san and Robin-chan, he knew they were on the deck right above the galley, lounging among the mikan trees that swayed in the warm breeze. The gentle rustle of the leaves reached his ears, and the citrus scent from the ripe fruit that wafted around him, made him wonder if he could use them for the snack time or add them to the next dessert. Later on he should ask Nami-san if it was okay with her to pick a few fruit for everyone to eat.

Distantly he could also hear how Brook was playing the violin. Sanji looked around a little to find out where the music was coming from, and finally noticed the tall man with his instrument standing close to the helm. He was there with Franky who had his guitar in his arms. It sounded pretty much like they were performing their latest song together.

But he couldn't exactly enjoy the music very much because of that certain Marimo. Even the sea kings deep on the bottom levels of the ocean could have heard him snoring. Sanji couldn't see where the shitty swordsman actually was sleeping this time, but he must have been lying somewhere on the lawn. With his current attire, it was rather hard to tell which part of the greenness was the grass and which was the Marimo.

Due to having some time for himself amid all the craziness that went on the pirate ship, he took another drag of his cigarette and leisurely started to reminisce about what on earth had happened to him during the past two years of his life.

Or well, perhaps it had all started from that ship where he had met the shitty old man, because without him Sanji wouldn't have become who he was now. However, those somewhat peaceful days filled with lots of cooking and a bunch of idiots at the Baratie were far gone, as though it all would have been someone else's life and not his own.

The sea had played an important part in his life ever since he had been born, but thanks to this group of lunatics, and beautiful ladies, of course, he had seen more land than ever before. And places he couldn't have imagined that existed. Sanji had only believed resolutely in All Blue and mermaids, definitely not in islands that were above the clouds or something as unnatural as an island within a whale.

Holding the cigarette between his teeth he smirked when he thought about the first time he had met Luffy and the others who had been sailing on the Going Merry. Sure, the Baratie was a famous restaurant outside the Grand Line, and lots of people came to see it and try the delicious food, but that crew had been something else.

A youngster who knew absolutely nothing about cooking, but all about eating. And oh boy, did he eat a lot or what. On top of that, he was made of rubber which must have been the reason why he could fit just about anything in his stomach. That young man was now his boss, even though most of the time Sanji didn't care about his orders, but instead did whatever Nami-san said, because she was smarter and prettier, and by far one of the best things that had ever happened to him.

Nami-san was so delicate and she understood some things much better than the others, perhaps even among all the ladies in the world. Ah, it had been so wonderful to get to know her and find out more about her every day. Sanji didn't mind working like a slave when it was for Nami-san. His eyes turned into pink hearts, even the one below his fringe, and he let out a happy sigh like he always did when he was thinking about her.

Other than them two, well, there was Usopp who had obviously become his best friend. Sanji had never had anyone like him in his life. All the people around him at the Baratie had been adults, so what the hell could they have understood about the life and troubles of a teenager? They were just laughing at him and making fun of him for a plenty of reasons, but those times were through, totally behind him. Having company of his own age felt good, even though there were still a lot of quirks about the long-nosed boy that he couldn't quite comprehend at times.

One thing that Sanji realized forgetting from time to time, was the fact that when he had decided to join Luffy's group, he had become a pirate. However, he had never really felt like one. And honestly, none of the crew looked like one. But even so every one of them had eventually gotten their own wanted poster, which in fact had been something that he had been looking forward to ever since Luffy and Zoro had gotten theirs. In too many ways it was unforgivable what kind of a poster he had! If anyone bothered to look at him, they would have been surprised at how good-looking he was, how charming he was, how exceptionally photogenic he was compared to the other ruffians of the crew. Whoever it was, that had made his poster, had his burning rage on them, and he would hunt them down and make them feel all the pain that he had been through because of that shitty and poorly drawn picture.

At that point he definitely needed another long drag of his cigarette to calm down a little. When he did that, he heard Chopper's bubbling giggle. It was amazing that someone like him existed. Of course they had met even stranger creatures after Chopper, but he must have been the best one of them all. With a smile on his face Sanji thought that if someone had told him that reindeers could become doctors if they really wanted to, he wouldn't have believed it. At first it had been enough to hear the little reindeer speaking like a human, but to find out that he was actually a doctor and wanted to travel the world, now that was really something else. Right now Sanji wouldn't have trusted any other doctor as much as he trusted Chopper. All the way from the time that they had first met on Drum Island, he had already worked miracles for every one of them. And the truth was that without Chopper they would have been in serious trouble, thus deep in his heart he was very grateful for everything that he had been able to do for the whole crew.

Then there was his other beautiful flower, Robin-chan, who was a special flower indeed. She had been so mysterious from the beginning, and even now Sanji couldn't have known for sure what she was thinking, but that was a unique part of her beauty. And what a joyful day had it been when they had found her from the Going Merry after they had to say farewell to Alabasta and the lovely princess Vivi-chan. Sanji still remembered how depressing it had been to separate from their dear nakama like that. Having the elegant archaeologist to join them in an instant had been yet another unexpected, but also a very welcome turn of events on their journey. From Sanji's point of view it had been good for the crew, but clearly even more so for Robin-chan, who hadn't had anyone to lean on or trust. Now she had a place where she belonged and people who cared about her, and she didn't have to be afraid of anything because he was always going to be there to protect her.

The cigarette was nearly finished so Sanji took out his portable ashtray from his jacket pocket and crushed the cigarette butt onto its metallic surface. Slipping the ashtray back into the same pocket, he took his pack of cigarettes and a lighter from his breast pocket to light another one. He thought he could allow himself a little more time for languid smoking, because the next meal was cooking in the huge oven and all the other preparations were practically finished.

As he put the new cigarette between his lips and lit it, he turned his gaze back to the peculiar couple in the distance in front of him. Two big men in their own ways. They were also the kind of people, who you wouldn't even guess to meet with or become friends with. To put it shortly and simply, Franky was a thug and Brook was a skeleton. Not exactly the type you would like to mingle with right after the first encounter. After all, Franky's people had mauled Usopp really badly, and Franky himself had been the one, who had virtually used all the money they had gotten with the riches from Skypiea. But fortunately Nami-san hadn't been mad about it, because thanks to all that commotion at Water Seven and Enies Lobby, they had gotten the best possible ship to sail through the rest of the Grand Line. And on top of that, the cyborg himself had more or less forcibly joined the Strawhats, and in the end he clearly didn't seem to regret it one bit.

As far as Sanji knew Luffy had wanted a musician to join the crew ever since he had left his own village to become the pirate king. It certainly had taken quite a while to find one even though that hadn't exactly been the first thought on Sanji's mind when he had met Brook. The word "shock" would be an understatement to describe what it had been like to see him move and hear him talk just like any other living person. However, that daunting feeling, that had seized him at that moment, had increased even more because of everything that Luffy had said and done, especially when he had asked him to join them, just like that, without knowing a single thing about the bizarre living skeleton with an impressive Afro.

Thinking back to all the adventures that they had been through to get Brook's shadow back as well as some of their own lost shadows, it had been one heck of a night. And it must have been a miracle that they had survived from all those horrors. Particularly the literally bloody swordsman who had resolved to die. That sight of him in the morning, after he came to, went looking for him, and found him the middle of an unfathomable amount of blood, was something he didn't want to experience ever again.

Puffing some cigarette smoke from his mouth Sanji looked down, trying to situate the Marimo's current whereabouts. No matter what they had been through together, the plain truth was that nothing and no one had affected his life as much as the shitty swordsman had. Yes, he was even more important to him than Zeff or Luffy, or even all the ladies in the world. Not that he would ever confess that out loud. And even more than that, he could have never told anyone that he was in an intimate relationship with his nakama.

He couldn't quite remember where it had started, or if there even had been anything that could have been called the beginning of a flourishing love affair. For a long time Zoro hadn't liked him at all, which might have also derived from the fact that Sanji had never let him drink as much booze as he would have wanted. His argument was that there was no reason for the moss ball to become a sponge instead. Moreover, his humble, yet unspoken, opinion was that such severe training and an excessive amount of alcohol didn't go well together, and therefore it would be more for his own good if he didn't get all the liquor that he could have easily just gulped down his throat.

On the other hand, Sanji hadn't cared much about Zoro, either. Of course it had been unforgettable to see his fight with Mihawk right before his eyes but it hadn't made him fall in love with the Marimo, but instead he had felt some kind of respect and honour for him, because of what he had said and done in that peculiar situation. Additionally, not many people could have lived after that but Zoro did. And only a little while after getting that huge scar over his chest, he had already been in the middle of a fierce fight with Arlong's underlings. He just didn't know when to stop, sometimes he seemed even more thick-skulled than Luffy. But neither one of them seemed to be afraid of dying when they were fighting for something important.

All those times they could have gotten killed in an instant. That was something that Sanji didn't want to happen, not on any account, not to anyone from the crew. At Thriller Bark it had been far too close, and it had made him conceive that it definitely would have been easier for him to die than to see how his nakama dies in front of him. How or why Zoro had survived even after what he had been through, was still a mystery to him, but Sanji had decided to keep his mouth shut about it. The relief, that he had felt when the Marimo had finally opened his eyes and started to eat the food that he had cooked, had been one of the best feelings in his life so far. Even if it had been kind of short-lived, since merely a few days after the awakening he had to experience the terror of how Zoro had disappeared into thin air.

When Sanji had realized that it must have been the second most devastating moment of his life, the time he had spent with Zeff on the rock being the most devastating moment ever, he had begun to accept the hidden feelings inside him. He wanted to be with Zoro. He wanted more than just brawl and quarrel with him daily. He wanted all the snoring, the glaring, the snarling, simply everything that made the swordsman who he was. To see him vanish like that was like losing a limb or one of his internal organs, such as his heart.

But pretty soon after that terrible moment of losing the man that he loved, he had gotten too busy to think about Zoro or anyone or anything else. Not that he ever forgot him or the others. Those two years of constantly running around and fighting for the recipes among the okamas, had given him enough time to make up his mind about what he should do when they would see each other again. He had decided to confront the Marimo in a way that would leave nothing unclear between them.

Only the way, that they had met for the first time after getting separated, couldn't have been any more momentous. To see the swordsman cutting an absurdly enormous ship in half and him sitting on top of it, dripping wet, that ridiculous scene had nearly left him speechless. Who could have expected anything like that to happen? Sanji did know that he shouldn't have been surprised at all because, after all, it was the Marimo, who would have been able to do whatever the hell he wanted just like that. Like gotten lost by getting on a wrong ship, that was simply too hilarious. And yet he found himself looking at his nakama in astonishment, slightly overwhelmed by what he had just witnessed.

Even if Zoro had lost his other eye, Sanji could still see so much in the remaining one when he looked deep into it. And even though he might have been a little bit worried about it at first, the most important thing was that the Marimo was really there, alive, close to him, and after all that time he could finally reach out his hand to feel that it really was him. Whatever he had planned to say to the swordsman didn't matter to him, it had been easier to take a hold of his green robe and press himself against that scarred chest. The wordless message had gone through much quicker than Sanji had expected because in an instant he had felt the strong arms wrapping around him, taking him into a tight embrace. Being able to hear that pounding heartbeat had calmed him down, and it had also encouraged him enough to pull Zoro's face closer to him that he could finally kiss him for the first time. And it had been nothing like he had imagined it to be; just a hasty peck on the lips. How wrong could he have been, because in no time at all he had felt big palms grabbing his ass and a slick tongue swirling in his mouth. That moment he had become putty in the swordsman's hands and couldn't have been happier for the firm hold; otherwise he would have positively keeled over on the ground.

A little later he had found out that Zoro had feelings for him, too, but hadn't been able to tell him, because he had thought that it would have been fruitless and stupid. Sanji had wanted to mock him for that, but couldn't, because he hadn't done anything, either. In the end, the only thing that mattered was that their mutual feelings for each other had changed for the better.

Giddy feelings pooled inside Sanji even though he probably should have gone back to the galley to check the oven. Five more minutes shouldn't have made such a lot of difference since it wasn't a cake or cookies this time. Therefore he stubbed out the second cigarette into the ashtray, and swiftly lit a third one before he started walking down the stairs.

The mundane snoring came from the shadow next to the slide. Exhaling some cigarette smoke from his mouth Sanji walked closer to the rumbling sound. No one would notice what he was about to do, so he crouched next to the sleeping man wondering if he was dreaming.

"Marimo," he called.

Then he took his burning cigarette from his lips to keep it between his fingers while he leaned forward and kissed Zoro's forehead. Of course it would have been nicer to kiss him on the lips, but with all the snoring and his mouth open wide it wouldn't have been a very good idea.

Nothing happened so the sleeping swordsman probably hadn't noticed anything, but it was okay with Sanji. He had only wanted to do it, there wasn't a real reason for it because he didn't need one. Maybe it was simply because right now he could just go and kiss Zoro without asking or explaining it to anyone. Whatever the reason for going to kiss the other man was, it didn't matter much if it made him happy.

As long as his cigarette lasted Sanji stayed beside Zoro, then it was time to go back to the galley and get some more work done. Once more he turned to look at the sleeping face and smiled a little. Moments like these were something that he wanted to treasure whenever he could.

He was getting up from the grassy deck when he felt a squeeze.

"God dammit," he swore turning to glare at the Marimo, who still sort of appeared to be sleeping, albeit had his fingers tightly on Sanji's right buttock. "I knew you were just faking it."

"I assume that you'll keep me company tonight," came the low mutter between nearly closed lips. At the same time the right eyelid cracked slightly before it shut again.

"For your information the dinner will be served within half an hour so I assume you'll be able to get your ass up by yourself and fight for every piece of food that you can get," Sanji notified with as much sarcasm in his voice as he could manage.

"Cook."

The eye was wide open and staring at him.

"What is it? I gotta go back, I have things to do, and most of all I have people to feed."

"Get down here."

That was an order, the tone of Zoro's voice was much colder than Sanji could have expected. It sounded kind of strange so he crouched again and waited for the Marimo to tell him whatever he needed to say.

"Answer the question," was everything Zoro said and without giving him a chance to reply, he took a hold of Sanji's necktie to pull him into a surprise kiss.

"Yes, your Highness, the king of marimos," Sanji joked with a grin after Zoro had finally stopped biting and nipping his lips. Damn, his kisses were always remarkably good, but he seriously had to get going or something bad might happen in the oven.

As he was standing up on his feet again, he straightened his necktie and could hear how Zoro tsked behind him. That was his style, it was so familiar to Sanji that he had to chuckle. As far as he was concerned, the swordsman wouldn't be so disappointed any more when the night was going to fall upon their ship. Then they could have some fun together, just the two of them, doing things that lovers did.

If Zoro had his eye open or not, Sanji didn't know or care much about it, but just for the heck of it, he still gave a tiny bit of service to the swordsman by swaying his hips more than necessary, and deliberately showed off his sexy ass while he walked back to the stairs. What he did know was that Zoro couldn't resist it, or in fact, Zoro couldn't resist him, and it was so much fun to tease him. Tonight the Marimo might pay him back for what he had done, but it wasn't something that Sanji was afraid of. In fact he was already looking forward to it - it wouldn't have been any good if the Marimo wasn't in the right mood for it, and that was why he had to help him every now and then to get his message through that mossy hair and the thick skull.

As soon as he entered the galley, a wonderful scent wafted into his nostrils. And because he had opened the door, he was pretty certain that the hungriest crew members were going to dash into the galley in a flash and start to demand whatever he had cooked. Luckily, everything was almost ready, he only had to get the salad and drinks from the fridge, and finally serve all the dishes that he had prepared for that meal.

"SANJI! FOOD!"

"Yeah, yeah, sit down and shut up. You have to wait until the ladies have gotten their share first, that's my policy and you idiots know that, right?!"

"Nami! Robin! Come to the kitchen already, we're hungry!"

And with that the peaceful moment was gone and forgotten. Whenever this crew was eating together, it was loud and hectic, but Sanji had gotten used to it. Those people who gathered at the table - oh look, even the Marimo showed up by himself - were the closest and dearest nakama that he could think of. Seeing them eat the dishes that he had cooked, made Sanji unbelievably happy. This was his home, this was where he had everything he needed.