He stood near the swings, staring at her. She had her arms out and revolving on the same spot, feeling the rain drops on her face, her arms; letting the rain pour down her beautiful long hair, the purple dress sticking to her body. He stood there mesmerized, looking at her as she enjoyed the rain. How did he end up here? How did he end up falling for a girl whom he knew he hated?

Sanji sat at the sofa. How long had it been since Zoro left? 1 month... maybe a month and a half. He was quite sure that the swordsman had moved on. He was probably climbing the staircase to his success. And here he was, staring at the LCD, squeezed between Luffy and Ussop. Those two had barged into his apartment and forced him to come over at Nami's. They had for waited 2 hours while he took bath and moped around, not wanting to leave.

Zoro was gone. He left a little over a month ago, throwing their relationship through the window. They had been together for 2 years and he just up and left. Sanji couldn't go with him; he had his restaurant to take care of, All Blue. He was the head chef and the owner. It was all for nothing of-course. He was not able to concentrate on his work and Taijo was the one handling the restaurant at the moment and Sanji couldn't care less. He just went there to cook when he felt like.

It was a really quite night in his apartment when it happened. Zoro sat across the table with his arms crossed over his chest, looking sternly at Sanji while Sanji stared at him, dumbfounded and at a lack of words. Zoro wanted an out. He said being with Sanji affected his concentration and decreased his training time. He said if he really wanted to achieve his dream, he needed to be free from distraction and so, he was going to leave town. It sounded so childish to Sanji at that time. He understood Zoro wanting an out, the guy lived for his dream and it was why Sanji loved him. He would never want to come in the way. But leaving town...? That was something a little too extreme wasn't it? He had cleared his throat, telling Zoro he needed some air; he had left the apartment, trying to process what the swordsman had proposed. When he came back 3 hours later, Zoro was gone. His mobile, charger, swords, toothbrush and some of his clothes were gone and so was his travelling bag. All that was left was his scent on the pillows on his side of the bed, all the clothes Sanji ever got for him and a key to the apartment.

Sanji had not cried. He didn't sleep either. He didn't go to his work and he only drank coffee when he felt he was getting a little too weak. He didn't call him either. All he did was clean. He cleaned out Zoro's wardrobe. He went shopping. He bought new pillows and threw out the old ones. And all the time he did anything to remove any trace of a green haired man living there, he was numb. He felt nothing. His friends had noticed his absence and four days after Zoro left, Ace and Nami came to his apartment, finding the door ajar and an overworked cook scrubbing the glass table spotless.

4 days after Zoro left

Nami and Ace entered the apartment. Sanji was on his knees, bent over on the round glass table. He had a toothbrush in his gloved hands and was scrubbing sluggishly, his eyes unfocused.

"Sanji?" Nami asked silently. What was going on here? Where was Zoro? Both of them had their mobiles off. Nami just thought that the two were having some fun so she didn't think too much about it. But, today morning she got a call from Taijo, asking her if she knew where Sanji was since he hadn't shown up to work for 4 days. Nami had grabbed her boyfriend and rushed over to see what was wrong.

"Sanji!" She said again, placing a hand on his shoulder. "What's going on? Where is Zoro?"

And the mention of Zoro's name, Sanji stopped scrubbing and looked around to stare at the apartment door, a glint of hope in his eyes. It vanished though and he saw Nami and Ace standing behind him. He blinked.

"Sanji. What's wrong?"

He blinked again. "He's gone. He left." He realized what it meant for the first time in four days and his heart clenched. "Nami... He left."

Nami saw as Sanji's eyes filled with tears. She had never seen him like this. So vulnerable and so lost. She sat down next to him n hugged him tightly. His head fell on her shoulder. "he le.." Before he could complete his sentence, the exhaustion took over and he passed out in Nami's hands.

Nami panicked a little. "Ace?"

Ace was sitting next to her. She felt him squeeze her shoulder. She looked at him, tears threatening to flow. He smiled at her and hoisted Sanji onto his shoulder and took him to his room.

Present day
Sanji sat stuck between Ussop and Luffy, forcing a popcorn down his throat every once in a while, staring at the flatscreen playing "Horrible Bosses 2", thinking how Zoro might be doing. It had been a month and a half and he had not felt happy.

3 hours later, Sanji stood in his apartment. It was raining heavily outside and he was soaked in the small distance he ran from his car to his door. His apartment was on the ground floor. He sighed and switched on the light. He walked into his kitchen and grabbed a glass of water to drink when he heard the doorbell ring.

Wondering who it was and deciding to kick Luffy off his doorstep if it was him, he opened the door. But it wasn't Luffy who stood there. Or Ace or Ussop or Franky. And no, it wasn't Zoro either. A Young lady stood on his doorway, around 5 feet 4 with black hair that reached her hips. She wore a black dress that covered her from the shoulder to her heels. But what he noticed were her chocolate brown eyes and a beautiful smile worn by dark pink lips. She looked beautiful.

"Hello. I am sorry to cause you any trouble but is it alright if I can come in? It's raining heavily and I seem to have lost my way. I will be out of your hair as soon as the rain stops. It's just very cold and I saw you entering a few minutes ago and I don't see a light in any of the other apartment buildings on the street..."

Sanji started laughing. He didn't know why he was laughing but he was. "Please, come on in. You will catch a cold." He moved aside to allow the young lady to enter. She was smiling at him with a slightly embarrassed look in her eyes. "Please... The living room is this way," he said flicking on the lights of his living room "and the washroom is there," he pointed towards it "Can I get you some hot Cocoa while you are here?"

She smiled a sweet smile. "No, thank you. But if you are being so generous would it be mean of me to ask for a pair of dry clothes? I am soaked to the bone, been out in the rain for around 15 minutes and it really is cold you know..." Sanji laughed again "You're laughing a lot, is there something wrong with what I am saying?" She pulled an interested look on her face, the sweet smile still on her face.

"I'm sorry." Sanji said, smiling politely "You're just talking too fast for me to understand what you are saying and that sort of reminds me of someone I know..."

"Oh..?" She looked at him curiously and then averted her eyes to the bathroom. "So, do you have any clothes I could wear?" She said it a little slowly this time. Sanji went to his room and got one of his casual tees and a pair of gym pants. "Are you comfortable with this?". She looked at the clothes and took them in her hands ,"they are perfect."

As she turned to go to the bathroom, Sanji realized he was being rude. "I am Sanji by the way. Sanji Blackfoot."
She turned around and laughed "Annie Cherin. Nice to meet you."

As soon as Annie entered the bathroom, Sanji heard someone impatiently knocking on his front door again. Slightly surprised Sanji went to open the door without thinking. He was standing face to face with a gun as a man held it to his face. The man seemed to have been beat up real bad. But before Sanji could react to any of this, he heard a click as a bullet shot out of the gun through the silencer. He ducked but not fast enough. He felt a blinding & sickening pain at the right side of his face near his eye as darkness engulfed him and he lost consciousness.

His head hurt. He groaned and stirred. Warmth of his blankets surrounded him n his head was neatly bandaged. His brain slowly remembered what had happened and he shot up from his bed and ran to his kitchen. What had happened? How was he in his bed? He stopped suddenly staring at the scene infront of him. The man who had shot him was lying at the base of his sofa, passed out with his hands tied behind his back and his ankles positioned in an uneasy angle and tied up as well... Whenever this man came to, he would definitely not be able to move without hurting himself. He as gagged as well... Sanji stared at the man and then at the table next to his sofa. There was an empty mug there with a little hot cocoa left at its base and below it was a small paper with something scribbled on it.

I am keeping the clothes, if you don't mind.

Take the money it would cost you from this loser's wallet if you must.

And don't worry about kicking him out. My friend will do it for you.

Just wait for him/her. IDK which one of them is coming.

Thanks and sorry.

Sanji read the note, a small smile coming on his face. The girl had taken down this man. He looked at the clock on the wall.. He was out for around 45 mins. He noticed his umbrella from the stand was missing.

Another knock on the door and he answered the door this time ready to attack if someone suspicious came through the doors again.

It was another lady "Good evening. I am Tashigi. I believe you have a criminal tied up near your sofa?" She smiled.

Sanji looked at her and smiled back. "Yes.. this way..."

So... yes. I do know where this is heading. It's modern AU. And the girl "Annie Cherin", if you're a fangirl, just imagine yourself. If you're a fanboy, imagine Baby5. I will have a sketch ready pretty soon of what she actually looks like and will put the link once I upload it somewhere. There is going to alot of YAOI, Straight sex, Threesome etc etc in this fanfic. So, if you're not into it, please don't proceed. New chapter will be out by Monday probably. Not sure. J Please do review and let me know where you want me to improve.