Disclaimer: I don't own One Piece. The songs played are "Entertainment" by Rise Against, "Boom!" by P.O.D., "Lost in You" by Sugarcult and "Far Away" by Nickelback. I own none of them.

A/N: Written for Zoro's birthday 2010.

One Last Dance

He heard the crowd cheering and screaming on the other side of the thick curtain. What had he been thinking about? Bashing his head softly against the neck of his guitar, he hated himself because he knew why he had done as he had. He had fucking said no to the living dream of his life. For what? For this? He looked out on the crowd through a monitor installed back stage. Thousands of girls and women screaming his name? All these people had gathered there because they loved them, they loved to see them play. Yet, none of them knew him. They knew his appearance, his voice, his smile and his slender fingers playing the guitar. But none of them knew him. Not as he knew him. Not as Zoro knew Sanji.

"I can't do that."

The blonde's face was unreadable as he explained those painful words to Zoro. Sanji shook his head to the not understanding man standing in front of him.

"It was fine when it was just a fling, just nothing... But I can't do something like that... The band…", he tried to explain, but he couldn't get the right words out of his mouth.

"The band, what?", Zoro asked with hints of desperation hidden in his voice, and the same emotion could be spotted in his eyes. "What's with the band, Sanji?"

The green haired man's hand shot out to grab the blonde's wrist, tugging it closer to him, as if he was afraid that Sanji would run away. Though, if you had been there and had been able to see the expression on Sanji's face, maybe you would have drawn the same conclusion.

The leading words for Sanji's feelings were Shocked, Nervous, Angry, Sad, Happy, and Desperate. Capital letters all the way, and on the second thought, Sanji wondered if he wasn't going to change Desperate to have big letters all the way through. Cleaning his throat from the most overwhelming nervousness he had ever felt related to a line that had to be said. Somewhere in his head, he could hear:

It's just words. Theatre you know. You know how. You work on stage. You live on stage. You have to say those words. You have to tell him you live. You have to tell him you can't live off the stage.

Drawing his hand out from Zoro's grip, Sanji took a single step back, all while he shook his head slowly.

"The band wouldn't like it. The audience wouldn't like it. It's all about the show biz, about entertainment... So, I wouldn't... I can't do it, Zoro.", Sanji said with a stern face, emotion hidden behind his long bangs falling into his face.

"I can't love you, Zoro."

Those were the last words Zoro heard before Sanji spun on his heels and walked out, faster than usual, but never running, always gracious. Tears threatened to run down his face as he heard the soft thump of the velvet box made hitting the ground, soon accompanied with a metallic twinkle as the engagement ring that had been inside the box fell out and rolled away from Zoro's feet.

The last thing Sanji saw was empty. Empty eyes, empty hands along with a now empty soul.

Six weeks. It had been six weeks.

It didn't surprise Sanji that Zoro never called back, not after what he said to him, but six weeks without Zoro was eating him from the inside. But what was he supposed to do? He was the lead singer and guitarist in a band famous all over the globe, and that meant that he couldn't skip around and do what ever he wanted to.

He sat in his hotel room on the eleventh and top floor, looking out over the city. The lights from the streets and the other skyscrapers was a beautiful contrast to the absolute black sky, yet Sanji couldn't think of anything else than the fact that somewhere out there, under one of those street lights, was the man whose heart he broke.

The blond had thought that it would be simple to forget about Zoro, that there had never been anything serious between the two of them. Or that's what Sanji had been thinking. A fling, a flirt, nothing more. And still the other man invaded his mind and dreams, taking over with his black eyes staring at Sanji, full of blame. And over and over he heard the terrible sound of Zoro's engagement ring falling to the floor.

He had accidentally smashed his last glass, but he could have cared less and drank the vodka directly from the bottle. Outside a faint sound from police sirens and a helicopter was heard, so Sanji turned up the volume of the radio. A fast guitar intro started, and Sanji smiled. At least the radio was playing the right song for the occasion. If the person who wrote this song only knew...

His fingers twitched as he played along the song with his air guitar, and with a voice harsh from alcohol and crying, he sung along.

All we are is entertainment
Caught up in our own derangement
Tell us what to say and what to do
All we are are pretty faces
Picture perfect bottled rage
Packaged synthesized versions of you

A knock was heard on his hotel room door, and the blond turned to glare at it. Yet another knock was heard, along with Usopp's voice asking him if he was okay.

"'m fine! Go away!", he yelled, throwing the now empty bottle against the wooden door, destroying it in a loud crash. "Go away, Usopp!"

We've all made petty fortunes but we can't afford a life
Confined to pull-out quotes and hotel rooms

"You don't sound okay. How much have you been drinking, Sanji? Sanji, answer me!" Usopp's voice rose a note or two as the knocking escalated. Sanji swung his head back and forth, hands covering his ears. Still, he hummed along with the lyrics;

Is this only entertainment
Pull the curtains, places please
We've learned to sing and dance and cry on cue

With the music turned up loud and with his hands covering his hearing, Sanji didn't notice what was going on outside of his hotel room. He closed his eyes for a couple of seconds, and when he opened them again Usopp stood before him with crossed arms.

"You gotta lie much better to fool me, pretty boy blond." The long nosed man looked down at Sanji sitting on the bed, and suddenly, he felt very, very guilty as his friend scolded him. He didn't say anything as Usopp turned down the volume of the radio.

"Hey... What's going on, Sanji?" Crouching down to Sanji's eye level, the tanned man wrinkled his long nose. Except Sanji's foul vodka breath, the blue shirt that Sanji had been wearing unbuttoned for three days was adding up to the smell that hit Usopp's nose. The blue eye that wasn't hidden by blond hair had heavy bags under it, and the otherwise small goatee had grown into a full blown 5 o'clock shade.

"Nothing! Go away!", Sanji mumbled, trying to avoid his friend's gaze, but Usopp grabbed his shoulders and shook them. Worry was reflected in his dark eyes, and when Sanji actually listened to him, Usopp's voice was trembling, if only a little.

"Since when, Sanji, since... What happened?" Usopp looked deep into his friends eyes, and both pair of eyes were on their way to start crying, with Usopp's starting ahead. "Why don't you trust me!You are my best friend, so why can't you tell me what's wrong? I... I don't want to see you like this!" Finishing, Usopp broke down into the tears that had been waiting on the threshold the last three days. With his arms capturing the thin man into a crushing hug, Usopp cried, and with him Sanji.

"It's Zoro.", he stuttered, far too much alcohol in his blood to keep his mind clear. "Zoro..." The words was muffled into Usopp's Led Zeppelin t-shirt, but when repeated over and over again, the long nosed man heard the world clear as daylight.

Breaking loose from the hug, Usopp dried off his nose from snot. Sanji was still clinging to his t-shirt, chanting the name of a certain green haired man he knew was another close friend of Sanji's. A question about what the hell that man had to do with Sanji's breakdown.

"Zoro? Your half Japanese friend?", he asked as he carefully bended loose Sanji's fingers from his t-shirt and helped him to sit up straight. The blond man drew heavy breath and his entire body shook from his tears. When Sanji finally did look Usopp in the eyes, the tanned man looked into an ocean of sorrow. There was something oh, so very wrong going on.

"Usopp... We were more than friends..."

"Were?" Usopp first reaction was towards the past tense, but a second later, his eyes widened as he took in the rest of the information in the sentence.

"You... and Zoro... were...?", Usopp stuttered, his face going pale when pieces started falling together in his stressed out mind. The late nights away, the fact that Sanji wasn't stalking the groupies and female fan just as much, and that time when a panting Zoro had answered Sanji's cell phone.

"Holy fuck, why didn't you say anything, Sanji?", Usopp almost panicked.

"How could I?" Sanji sniffled and dried of the snot on his already dirty sleeve. "It was nothing, nothing really!"

"If it was nothing, tell me why you haven't left your hotel room for three days. You tell my why you look like shit and cry your eye balls out."

Sanji's hand searched the bed covers for the bottle he had smashed against the wall, but Usopp grabbed it instead and looked at it with eyes filled with pity.

"Look at your hands, Sanji. If you continue like this, you won't be able to play the guitar anymore!" He shook his head, and pulled Sanji's arms so the two of them stood up, the blond supported his wiggly legs against his steady friend. "Let's get you fixed up. We have a concert tomorrow night, and everybody wants to see you."

"But...", Sanji sobbed and buried his nose in Usopp's shoulder, inhaling the comforting smell of clean clothes and the after shave the long nose had been given by his girlfriend.

"Hey, first food, water and a long, hot shower, then we can talk about what happened. Don't think I don't care, but I care more about you not falling over in a dead pile. You can't live on the mini bar's peanuts forever."

And, despite everything, Sanji liked the idea of something warm to eat.

The next day the band had gathered back stage and were powering up for one of their biggest concerts yet. On the other side of the curtain, a lot of people had travelled far to see them put up the greatest show on earth. Usopp nudged his back, and threw the bass' support cord around his neck.

"You're still thinking about him, right?", the tanned man asked the blonde, and got a hissing respond:

"Of course I am!" Trying to calm himself proved to be a hard task, as the band's drummer Luffy jumped up and down in front of him like a rubber ball.

Last night, after a delicious steak accompanied with potatoes, wok vegetables and a big glass of water, Usopp had forced him to shower in his room, saying that he didn't want Sanji to be alone at the moment. The shower had been refreshing, even if Usopp later had complaining about him stealing all the hot water, and when he walked out from the bathroom with clean clothes and damp hair, he felt a little better.

"Now", Usopp had said. "would you mind telling me what's going on?"

"Where should I start?", Sanji shrugged. "There wasn't even a clear start, it just sort of happened. There were alcohol, loud music and a hot girl involved, but somehow, we ended up in the same bed the following morning, without the girl. And things just continued from there."

Usopp nodded and thought about it all for a while before he asked 'For how long?'.

"A year and some months perhaps. Minus six weeks.", the blond added with a harsh voice.

Usopp's eyes widened, and he began stuttering. A faint smile played on Sanji's lips at Usopp's reaction, but it fainted again as Usopp continued asking questions.

"Jikes... You kept that a secret for so long? And what happened six weeks ago?"

"What choice did I have?", Sanji countered, avoiding the second question.

"You could have told us, Sanji. You should have.", Usopp said with a low voice, hand resting on Sanji's shoulder and squeezing ever so slightly. The blond bit his lip and stared out the window. The view was the same as a couple of hours ago, and the street lights still lit up the streets far down on ground level.

"Six weeks ago... he proposed...", Sanji said, breaking the silence.

If Usopp's chin had hit the floor before, it was now on its way on making a hole through it, going down at least five stories.

"He... He proposed? Like in a 'I want to marry you'-way? Ring and all?"

"What other ways are there?", Sanji muttered, and noticed how Usopp's eyes searched his hands for said ring. The corner of Sanji's mouth twitched slightly when he explained with a cold voice.

"I kinda told him to piss off, that I couldn't do it... That it... That it wouldn't be good for the band..."

Both men were silent for a few seconds, Sanji still looking out on the dark night sky, but Usopp's whole body shook and with his fist tightened, he smacked his friend over the head.

"I know Luffy is the one that was supposed to do that, but seeing that he isn't here I had to do it." Anger boiled with in the man, a sight Sanji rarely saw. Usopp was always happy, well, sometimes he needed a nudge to help him believe in himself, but this angry? The blue eyes looked straight at him, widened in shock.

"How could you say something like that? 'The band wouldn't...', oh, how stupid are you? We wouldn't have anything against it, and you know it, so stop using it as an excuse because you are afraid to admit to yourself that you love him! Because you do, don't you?"

Sanji didn't respond for a while, but he just looked at Usopp, lips slightly parted. Inside his mind, a battle of thoughts was held.

He had known that the band wouldn't really care, he knew that. But it had been a good excuse to repeat in his mind until it had become the truth. Was it only that though, an excuse? And had Usopp really said he loved him, loved Zoro? More importantly; did he?

"I... I don't know."

"Sanji...", Usopp spoke softly. "Look really good. It's in your heart, so search carefully."

Sanji took a sip of the glass of water that stood beside him, but shook his head.

"It's too late already, it doesn't matter any more..."

"Sanji, look at me!", Usopp demanded and angled Sanji's chin so they were face to face, eyes looking into each other.

"It's not too late. It's never too late."

"But, it's been six weeks; he has probably forgotten about me already.", Sanji sulked, but Usopp stood up with his arms crossed in front of his chest.

"Why, yes... The man proposed to you, probably thinking you was the love of his life only to forget about you after little more than a month. Perhaps he is trying to forget you, but I highly doubt he has, or could for that matter erased you from his mind. Much like you can't seem to forget about him. Am I right?"

'...The love of his life?'

Ignoring the thought invading his brain, he continued shaking his head, but Usopp nudged his shoulder.

"Am I right?", he asked again.

"I can't forget about him, okay. But that's all... I think."

Crouching down in front of him, forehead rested in his hands, Usopp sighed. He had known that something was wrong with Sanji, but that it would be stuck so deep in the man's soul, that it would be love, the long nosed man wouldn't have guessed. His friend needed help, but he also needed sleep. Perhaps it was a better idea to let Sanji sleep on the matter.

Later that night when the clocked had ticked way past midnight, Sanji was still awake, thinking of what Usopp had said, and what Zoro had said.

Had he really made the right decision? Probably not, but why was he still sulking about it? Why hadn't he let go during these six weeks? Usopp's words echoed in his brain. Was he really the love of Zoro's life? First he went for a 'maybe', but after an hour of turning around on the bed he changed it to a 'probably'. Zoro had proposed to the love of his life, and said love had dismissed him all high and mighty only to angst over it the following month.

He had done something wrong, that was for sure, but the question was if it really was too late. He sat up in his bed and searched the night stand for his cell phone. He flipped it open and pressed the speed dial and Zoro's number appeared on his screen.

Lack of sleep, the alcohol still in his veins and utter desperation made him click the call button. The signals beeped monotonously in his ear as he waited for somebody to pick up. Somewhere in the town, a cell phone was ringing, playing "Good Old-Fashioned Lover Boy" by Queen, if Zoro hadn't changed it or even deleted his number.

Nobody picked up on the other side, and the beeps continued as Sanji hugged his knees, blanket drawn up to his torso. It was too late after all, wasn't it? Or was it only too late in the night?

Sanji put his cell on the small table again, and covered his head with the spare pillow. How the hell had he managed to get things this fucked up?

He didn't sleep very well that night, and when he woke up he checked the cell phone which left him empty and disappointed. He tried calling again, but was only met by the same empty noises.

After getting dressed, he met up with Usopp and Luffy. Somehow he managed to give them a smile, but after eating breakfast with them, he started building up a wall around his mind. It was just a few hours left until their concert, and it was time to at least try to look decent.

And so he had finally ended up back stage, pressure building up inside him. He took a deep breath. This was it.

Slamming down the opening riff to their first song, the blonde leaned forward towards the standing microphone, his lips almost grazing its cold metal when he moved them, shouting:

"Helloooo, Hofterup!" His two words were met by screams from over ten thousand people, all ages and both genders, though, females were quite visibly the winning team. Smiling at the sea of people getting a rush by every single thing he did on stage, he bent his fingers and changed the accord again.

"My name is Sanji Black, and this is our band." Not letting the audience go with his eyes, he showed with his left right hand, the other holding down the strings, his friends behind him. With undying power, his energetic friend was concentrating on keeping the tempo, always on his way to go too fast on the drums. Luffy was smiling like a fool as usual, slamming on his drum set, but he was not the only one with a big grin plastered to his face.

As Luffy sped up his beating on his poor drums, Usopp's thick lips were formed into an intense smile with his tongue at the corner of his mouth. His hair was drawn back in a fluffy ponytail, and the man looked all but awesome where he stood wide legged in his white tank top and John Lennon-ish sunglasses, fingers sliding over his base with tender precision. You could see that the man was born for stage work.

Once again opening his mouth, Sanji smiled and pointed his index finger out in the middle of the enormous crowd.

"And for the next two hours…", he started, his fingers finding their way back onto the deliciously smooth body of his Les Paul, starting to play a melody before he finished his sentence.

"Your asses are MINE!" At the last word, the black haired boy behind the drums took an extra strong hold of the sticks and smashed them down on the main tom-tom, threatening its life. Their technical support had sure done his well since the pyrotechnics spurted out behind the band lighting up the name "The Strawhats" in sparkling colors falling down.

The audience went wild, and Sanji laughed into the microphone. The crowd was crazy and he had problems hearing himself over the cheering. Still, it felt as if something was missing behind the façade, and he knew what.

Cheer up, Sanji. He isn't coming back. Ever. Enjoy the show. Enjoy yourself. It's not impossible to live without him. It's just very bloody hard.

Pushing the thoughts of Zoro to the side, he begun singing.

"Ha ha, I never knew that a kid like me

Could take his mic around the world and flash the big S.D.

And rock the masses, from Madrid to Calabasas

Tijuana, Mexico, bootleg demos in Tokyo."

The audience before him was in trance, jumping up and down. The security personnel was working hard on making sure that nobody got hurt, or that someone got too close to the fence surrounding the stage.

He really tried enjoying himself, and he guessed that a part of him did because he could feel himself smile and his body was spun tight from the excitement. Yet, he couldn't let go of Zoro. He shook his head trying to get rid of the disturbing thoughts, and in the background he could hear hundreds of females screaming at the close up of his face that was visible on the huge screen. Very melancholic artist and all that.

In the background, more pyrotechnic effects blew off and Sanji focused of singing the last refrain, putting extra power in every word that he sung along with the audience.

Boom! Here comes the Boom!

Ready or not, here comes the boys from the South

Boom! Here comes the Boom!

Ready or not, How you like me now?

The first song was over, but many remained.

The sky had turned from blue without a cloud to a black star spread night sky as the concert was closing in on the final songs. Only two remained now, but before Usopp or Luffy had a chance to start the next, Sanji grabbed his microphone and started talking to the audience.

"You know, we don't have so much time left together, so I thought I should take a small break and talk a little to you."

He scratched the stumble on his chin, but continued. It was now or never.

"This next song is a very important song to me. You see, this used to be the favourite song of one of the most important people in my life."

Sanji's softly spoken words echoed out over the audience. On his left side, he saw Usopp quirk his eye brows and the long nosed bassist threw the lead singer a meaningful glance, receiving a small nod from Sanji. Before Sanji turned his head again, he saw Usopp smile and do a thumbs-up.

Looking from the bassist to the audience, many of the people in front of the stage looked at him with sad eyes and faces showing compassion for what seemed to be a tragic life story of the musician. Smiling at his own, maybe misused words, the blond shook his head.

"He isn't dead if you're thinking that... It's just we... ", he said, taking a short break and a deep breath as well. "I don't really think it's his favourite song any more."

Sanji's voice drifted away and Usopp took over before the guitarist could say anything more.

"This is 'Lost in You'!"

Sanji's thin hands placed the microphone in front of his face, closing his eyes before he begun playing the familiar intro by heart. He knew this song inside and out; he and Zoro had played it too many times to keep track of it. And when he, without opening his eyes, started singing, tons of memories came flooding to him.

Six days went by

Trying to forget her face

It was you and I

We were to young for these games

Zoro was everywhere and nowhere. The empty space he had left behind was more visible to Sanji than any other time during these six weeks, and Sanji's longing for him was beginning to become unbearable.

Lost in you

And I can't find myself again

Sanji held back his tears. He couldn't let his façade break down, not in front of the band and the audience. Hell that was why it was a big hole through his soul right now, so he couldn't let those tears pour down his cheeks. Gathering all his strength, Sanji created a mask picturing a big smile on his face as the next verse begun.

Six weeks went by

Still pretending that I'm fine

It was you and I

Holding back what's on our minds

So this was it? This was how he was supposed to live the rest of his life? The audience sure seemed to like it though... There were still people jumping up and down, and over at the right corner, security even seemed to have some problem with one guy rushing in towards the stage from his place somewhere in the middle of the gigantic crowd of fans. Some people really believed that they could just knock their way forward in life, pushing everybody else aside.

Lost in you

And I can't find myself again

Six months went by

I almost forgot your face

Till they played that song tonight

The one we used to... hate

The last word in the song was cut off as Sanji tripped over his own vocal cords. He had caught a glimpse of the man that had been pushing his way forward to the stage, and there had been a flash of green hair in a nuance he would know anywhere.

He's here. He's here and he probably heard me. Of course he did, everybody here hears everything you say, stupid. But if he is coming here, does that mean...?

"Ladies and gentlemen", Sanji quickly told the audience. "It's time for the last song; 'Far Away'."

This time, This place

Misused, Mistakes

Too long, Too late

Who was I to make you wait?

By now, Zoro had fought his way through the thickness that was fan girls, and after being released by one of the bigger security guards after a knowing nod from Usopp, he was actually closing in on the long catwalk that stretched its way out from the scene.

'Cause you know,

you know, you know...

Sanji threw a desperate eye on Usopp who already had exchanged his base for an acoustic guitar and took over Sanji's playing. It was a fairly easy guitar play in this song, and Usopp handled it with great success. Leaving his friend behind, Sanji started walking out towards the catwalk, the portable microphone loosened from its stand and now in Sanji's hand.

The singer's blue eyes searched the crowd and found Zoro again. At this point, people had begun separating where the man was pushing through, leaving him a path like the sea had parted for Moses. With his eyes fastened on Zoro and Zoro's on his, Sanji continued singing.

That I love you

I have loved you all along

And I miss you

Been far away for far too long

The tears he had been holding back before was now dripping down, leaving small dark spots on his t-shirt. All Zoro did, except continuing forward was smiling, finally smiling.

Around them, people were beginning to wonder what was happening, and people craned their necks to get a better view of the big screens if they didn't stand close enough to see the actual event.

Zoro was mere meters away now, and despite the fact that this was the crowd thickest area, people managed to move away and leave the two men a small circle of free space. Sanji could feel his whole body tickle with anticipation, but he continued singing as people carefully helped Zoro past the fence and up on the cat walk.

I keep dreaming you'll be with me

and you'll never go

Stop breathing if

I don't see you any more

The two men stood face to face with each other, emotions dancing in both their faces, and neither of them sure who was supposed to take the first step. In the background, Usopp continued playing, and the soft tunes encouraged Sanji.

He rewarded Zoro with a soft smile before he got down on one knee, much like Zoro himself had done six weeks ago. The surprise was visible in the other man's face, but he smiled too when Sanji took his calloused hand in his.

On my knees, I'll ask

Last chance for One Last Dance

'Cause with you, I'd withstand

All of hell to hold your hand

Apparently, Zoro wasn't going to let Sanji steal the whole show as it was proven that he had an ace in his sleeve, or at least a velvet box in his front pocket. He opened it slowly, and took out the ring that had rested inside.

"You really want to do this?" Zoro's tune was low, as his voice had been affected by the same mistreating like Sanji's had with amounts of alcohol. There was doubt in his voice, but an equal amount of hope, if not even more.

Sanji didn't need to respond by words. All he did was nod and feel the cold metal ring slip onto his ring finger. The audience went wild, wilder than ever before and the pyrotechnist lurking backstage found it appropriate to give the couple some explosions and colourful firework illuminating the night sky.

Sanji got back up on his feet and swallowed big time. The biggest moment was already passed, but there were several more awaiting him now. He put the microphone back to his mouth.

"Everybody, this is Zoro, and I guess you could call him my boyfriend. This is probably a weird way to come out from the wardrobe, or what ever, but we all live messy lives, and we can't plan it all, can we? Well... It's been a shaking way here, and I guess the road will have its occasional bump in the future too, but for now, ENJOY THE MOMENT!"

And then he threw his arms around Zoro and kissed him. Their lips moved together in perfect sync, and soon enough, their tongues found their way through slightly parted lips. With eyes closed, their fingers threaded though short hair, massaging scalps and enjoying the said moment.

When they finally broke the kiss both of them were breathless, but Sanji still put the mic to his mouth. Still panting a little, he smiled wider than all the fake smiles he had worn earlier that evening.

"Ladies, gentlemen, boys and girls; everybody!", he screamed across the field covered in people. Sanji was happy, ecstatic even, and he wanted to share this joy. Behind him was his band, both his best friends ready to blow people minds and beside him was Zoro, grinning like a mad man and hand clasped into his. Sanji grinned too and took a deep breath.

"Let's make this the best show in the world!"

Okay, Happy Birthday dear Marimo, and so on! I hope you liked this, and if you did; why don't leave a review?