Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece.
What he saw at the Sabaody Archipelago shocked Roronoa Zoro. Two years since they have separated-and he was the first one to arrive-he witnessed the Straw Hat Pirate Crew's cook with another man. A strong wave of betrayal rushed into Zoro's head. Why was the moron talking to the other guy so excitedly, and why was he standing so close to a stranger? What irritated him was the fact that the stranger looked like him, but looked like a fat, stupid pig. He didn't say this because he was an arrogant, narcissist; he was stating a fact. Did Cook find fat lips and a beer belly sexy?
Zoro stormed over to the lanky blond and grabbed the shoulder. The man yelped and Zoro felt the muscles under his hand to tighten. Slowly, the man turned and showed Zoro his frightened face.
"Y-Yes?"
The swordsman blinked and stared wide-eyed at the man who looked like the cook. Then again, he didn't look like the blond at all. The clothes and the hair style looked the same, but Zoro didn't need to look twice to see that it was a total stranger.
"Uh...I'm sorry. I've mistaken you for another guy."
"Oh...oh good." The lanky man squeaked.
"My god...that guy looks scary." The fat, green haired man whispered to the other, but Zoro heard it.
Zoro examined the two closely since the anger was diminished, "W-What are you guys trying to be-"
"You don't know?" The skinny blond squealed, "We're the famous-er, infamous, Straw Hat Crew! I'm Black Leg Sanji and he's 'Pirate Hunter' Roronoa Zoro!"
"Hou," said Zoro, trying his best not to laugh, "I've heard of them before."
So they're impersonating us...but why...? Zoro was a bit disheartened that they chose the ugliest and the fattest man to fake him. However, he was curious of this 'Fake Straw Hats.' Since he was the first to arrive, he had to wait for the others: a drawback to being the first. A smile crept on Zoro's face. He had nothing to do, so stalking and observing this crew would be fun.
The swordsman left the duo, but waited until they were a block away. Then, he started following after them.
-.-.-
The Thousand Sunny Ship was hundreds of meters under the sea and was sailing (or sinking) toward the Mermaid Island. Idiot No. 7 (a.k.a. Cook) was in high spirits because he was looking forward to this island. It also seemed that the cook had a strange withdrawal symptom whenever he saw women. It was silly, but pathetic to see the cook on the grass while having blood transfusions every thirty minutes.
The fourth blood transfusion was over, and Chopper begged Sanji not to look at Nami or Robin for a while until they land on the island. The reindeer also handed the ladies a long coat to cover themselves, so Sanji wouldn't go bleeding all over the place again.
Zoro found the silly cook standing near the balcony smoking a cigarette. The blond finished serving snacks to everyone and was taking a quick break. He looked normal aside the fact that he wore a necklace with photos of Nami and Robin.
When Zoro set his arms on the balcony, Sanji looked up and chuckled as if he remembered something.
"Hey, did you see the guys that looked like us?"
"Yeah." Zoro grumbled as he recalled the fake Straw Hats. He remembered clearly of the Fake Zoro and Sanji couple, and a short sting of pain echoed in his chest.
Sanji began to chuckle brightly, "I can't believe that Chopper and Luffy fell for them! I mean, come on, did they really look like us?"
"Even the pirates and the Marines fell for it." Zoro smirked, "I fell for it too, you know."
"Really?" Sanji laughed, "You're dumb!"
Zoro smiled meekly, "I saw the backside, so I really thought the guy was you." Memories flooded over of the times when Zoro spied the two. He remembered how Fake Sanji, Drip, sometimes put an arm around Fake Zoro's, Manjaro's, back. Drip never left Manjaro's side, and out of all of the Fake Straw Hats, Drip always talked to Manjaro. Zoro witnessed them talk, laugh, and even eat lunch without starting any fights. The more he watched them the more his heart hurt.
The fakes were getting along fine, but the real Zoro and Sanji always fought, argued, and hated each other.
"So how did you find out it was me?"
"It's obvious!" Zoro snorted. "I was only fooled for a second."
"You sure? Did you think I was fooling around with some stranger?" Sanji suddenly peered into Zoro's face, "What's wrong?"
"...I was thinking," Zoro straightened up, "I wonder why we can never get along." Sanji stopped laughing and stared, "You know, I was watching those guys, and I envied them." Zoro now turned to face the cook. "Fake you and me. They were like good friends."
Sanji swallowed, but hesitated before asking, "D-Do you want to be friends?"
"Yeah."
"But I thought-"
"Thought what?"
"I thought you didn't like me."
Zoro frowned, "Honestly, I didn't like you at first. You were annoying, stupid, and flirt with women too much. But you know, I want to get to know you more and get a better conversation started...instead of fighting all the time." Zoro didn't tell the rest of his emotions because he knew that every relationship should start with small steps.
Sanji faced him and there was an expression Zoro couldn't help but blush. It was solemn and did not have any trace of silliness that the swordsman was used to seeing. It was the expression Zoro saw whenever Sanji was alone, and it also happened to be the expression Zoro liked. Then, a nice, warm smile danced across the cook's face. Zoro's heart fluttered like butterflies.
The cook silently placed his hand on top of Zoro's and smiled, "Let's get along."
The swordsman stared at Sanji's face and then at the hand. Two years have passed in a flash and the world, the people, and the crew had changed. The New World was the gate to a new adventure and possibly a new relationship.
Zoro flipped his hand around and gently squeezed Sanji's hand.
"Sure."
The End