Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece or any of the characters. One Piece is the property of Eiichiro Oda and Toei Animation.
Note: This fanfiction is set after the two year time skip, following the crew in the new world after fish Man Island.
[Chapter One: Beginnings.]
{*}
Sanji was just taking a break from the dishes when Zoro came into the kitchen. He threw Sanji a heated glare before taking a seat at the table. Sanji watched while he smoked as the swordsman positioned the chair to face the kitchen before stretching his legs out and crossing his arms. With another pointed glare in the cook's direction, he said at a length, "We need to talk."
Sanji only exhaled smoke through his open mouth. He eyed the swordsman from where he stood with his back against the counter. His mouth moved around the cigarette he held between his lips as he mumbled, "Yeah, I'm listening."
Zoro said nothing for a moment, only biting at his bottom lip. With a sigh, he unfolded his arms and leaned forward in his chair, effectively hanging his head.
"What does this make us now?"
Sanji continued to watch him. His hand moved to his mouth to take out the cigarette, using it as a cover for the silence. He fingered the cancer stick between two fingers.
"Nothing." He said, not looking at the swordsman any more, but looking at the cigarette in his hand. "It means nothing at all."
He could feel Zoro's glare, so he added, "Did you want it to mean something?"
"No, but I thought you'd at least feel something. Maybe slight attraction, maybe be a little embarrassed, I dunno. You're acting as though nothing has happened at all."
Sanji couldn't help but smirk when he heard that. He rolled his eyes for Zoro to see and glared right back at him. "Attraction? Embarrassment? You shouldn't flatter yourself, shitty swordsman, it's not a good look for you. You seriously thought I'd feel something?"
Zoro looked away this time, a blush working spreading from his neck to colour his cheeks. "I thought that you'd be in hysterics, being straight and all."
Now Sanji couldn't help but laugh. "This isn't a question of my sexuality, you arsehole, and why would you care if I suddenly started liking men? Like I said, this meant nothing to me, so in my eyes I'm completely straight."
Zoro frowned at that, probably because he was unable to follow that kind of logic, but said nothing about it.
"Besides, I'm sure you've at least heard of one night stands before." Sanji continued, taking another puff of his cigarette, "I know for a fact that you're no saint."
Zoro growled, "I never claimed to be, stupid cook."
The cook could tell that the swordsman's temper was rising, and with only a few pushes on some of his buttons, Sanji knew he could get a rise out of Zoro. It wasn't exactly hard, given how hot tempered he could get at times.
"And yet, here you are, asking about how I feel." Sanji sneered, feeling his own temper rising.
"Damn it, I was just asking where we stood, you fucking shit arse cook!" Zoro shouted, now standing. He was glaring at Sanji with his one eye like he wished for nothing more than to send the cook into the deepest pits of hell.
Sanji almost shouted back at Zoro, but held himself back. Normally, he'd love nothing more than to spit out insults and mock the shitty swordsman, but this was more serious than them arguing while fighting an enemy. He sensed that anything he said here and now could possibly permanently damage their already extremely frail relationship. He didn't necessarily hate Zoro, and he could hardly tolerate the guy, but for the sake of their captain and crew, they tolerated each other.
"Look," he sighed, tapping off the ash from the end of his cigarette, "It was nothing more than casual sex. Just brush it off and pretend it didn't happen and we can go back to our mutual hatred of each other."
Zoro seemed to visibly calm at that, probably not expecting Sanji to pass up the opportunity to start an argument. The heated tension deflated, and he frowned at the cook.
"Pretend it never happened?" he parroted.
"Yeah, you go about ignoring me, and I'll do the same."
Zoro said nothing after that, just stared at him with a frown. Sanji waited for him to say more, but the green haired swordsman just shrugged.
"If that's how you want it."
"Would you want it any other way, honestly?" Sanji asked, not moving from his position beside the sink.
Zoro threw him a fleeting glance as he made to leave and smirked, "Of course not. Who'd want anything to do with you, shit cook?"
Sanji was about to shout back when Zoro shouted, "Oi, and if you tell anyone about this, I'll cut you up so bad, not even your own mother would be able to recognise you!"
He growled and muttered under his breath, "Please, telling anyone I slept with such an ugly mug like yourself would be social suicide."
{*}
Two weeks later and Sanji found himself crawling out of bed in the middle of the night. For hours now, he'd been lying in bed staring at the top bunk while trying to ignore the growing feeling of nausea in his lower abdomen.
For the past two days now, he'd been trying to dismiss the nausea he'd been feeling. He wanted to put it down as food poisoning, but he'd eaten nothing but his own cooking during their entire time spent sailing from their last island. He was confident in his abilities as a cook to not have given himself food poisoning, so he didn't think it could be that. Besides, none of the other members of the crew had shown any symptoms of food poisoning as far as he could tell. He'd contemplated seeing Chopper about the issue, but the more prideful part of him had stopped him. It would be pointless to bother his friend about something as minor as stomach issues. Unless it progressed into something serious, he wouldn't bother the little reindeer.
The snores coming from the rooms other occupants went undisturbed as he crept out as quickly as he could and raced to the bathroom in the dark. He silently cursed Franky for turning the lights in the corridor's off at night as he stumbled along.
Once in the bathroom, he locked the door and dropped to his knees and slung his head down into the toilet bowl. He felt his stomach tighten and convulse as he threw up the remains of the dinner they'd only eaten a few hours ago.
Dizziness swept over him, and he felt himself sway a little in time with the rocking of the ship. He dropped his head down to rest on the side of the bowl, breathing in slow, deep breaths.
What the hell was wrong with him, he wondered.
He tensed and felt suddenly too hot and clammy. Sweat shone on his forehead as his body prepared itself before he threw up again.
He groaned into the bowl and slumped down, waiting for the nausea to pass. He didn't have to wait long. After a few more deep breaths, he felt the nausea drain away, leaving him feeling exhausted and spent.
A loud knock sounded on the door, and he inwardly seethed at the person who dared to disturb him while he felt this crap. Slowly, he got shakily to his feet and whipped off any lingering traces of vomit on the back of his wrist. Another knock echoed, and he growled through clenched teeth "Just a second."
Opening the bathroom door revealed a sweaty looking swordsman, who raised an eyebrow at Sanji's appearance. Sanji concluded that he must have been training and heard Sanji vomiting.
"You alright, shit cook? I could hear your puking from outside." Zoro asked, a slight smirk tugging at his lips.
"Just peachy, thanks." The cook muttered while making to move past the green haired brute before him. But Zoro blocked his escape, his smirk coming in full force now.
"You sound really sick, shit cook. Maybe you should go see Chopper, in case you gave yourself food poisoning."
Sanji seethed, "Bastard! This isn't food poisoning!" he tried again to get past the swordsman, only to have his path blocked yet again. "Don't doubt my cooking skills, you shitty marimo!"
Zoro was now grinning, "Wow, Princess, I didn't realise you were so sensitive about your shit arse cooking." He then raised an eyebrow while still smiling, "And if it's not food poisoning, then what is it?"
"I don't know, do I look like a doctor you, arsehole?!"
"What the hell is going on here?" came another voice from behind Zoro. The two turned to see Nami standing there, arms crossed and dressed in nothing more than her night gown. She was scowling at the both of them and ignoring Sanji as he cooed, "Nami-swan!"
"Do the two of you have any idea what time it is?" She hissed, her eyes promising a painful death.
"Relax, sea witch, we were just heading to bed now anyways." Zoro said, rolling his eye and moving out of Sanji's way.
Sanji wanted to hit him for insulting a woman, but Nami's glare held him back. She was right, it was late and they'd probably woken her up.
"I'm sorry for waking you up, Nami-swan. I'll make sure this bastard goes straight to bed." Sanji told her while smiling. Nami smiled back and turned around, but not before shooting them both another glare, warning them to keep quiet.
True to his word, the two went in silence to the boy's room. It wasn't until they were both under the covers of their bed's that Zoro spoke up from within the darkness of the room. Sanji couldn't see him, but he could feel the other man's eyes watching him.
"I meant what I said, shit cook. You should go see Chopper tomorrow."
Sanji rolled over and glared at the wall. "Yeah, whatever."
He chose to ignore the slight amount of concern laced in with Zoro's words. He didn't feel like reading too much into the shitty swordsman's words.
{*}
"Did you even listen to what I said the other night about seeing Chopper?" Zoro asked sharply, his voice betraying the irritation he must have felt. Sanji's head rested on the toilet bowl again, breathing in harshly while Zoro leaned back against the sink with folded arms and a scowl.
"Shut up, moron." Sanji moaned, "It's probably just food—" Sanji threw up once more, his hands gripping the side of the bowl until they turned white from the pressure. He felt his body begin to tremble.
"Did you want me to go call Chopper?"
"No. He'll only worry." Sanji muttered while shaking his head.
Zoro only shrugged, "It's kind of his job, remember?"
"Remind me again why you're here?" Sanji snapped.
From where he knelt, he could see the swordsman's shoulders tense as he prepared to defend himself. "I'm here because this is the second night in a row that I've been on watch and heard you throwing your guts up." The man bit back.
Now Sanji scowled and turned his head so that he was facing the almighty pain in his arse, not at all ashamed to let him see how his body was still shaking and trying to recover from the nausea.
"I never asked you to come check on me, stupid swordsman." He hissed.
"Then why the hell did you let me in?" Zoro threw back, apparently not caring in the slightest that his voice was beginning to rise.
But that was a good question, Sanji thought to himself. Why did he let him in, when he could have just told him to leave? A part of him reasoned that this was probably because if he did need Chopper, someone would have to go get him because even now he was struggling to stand.
"I don't know, stupid." He said instead.
The swordsman just grunted and unfolded his arms, not looking in the direction of the cook. His hand came up to his face and he rubbed at his forehead wearily.
"This is stupid," Zoro sighed, "Just tell Chopper. He's not going to mind."
But that wasn't why he didn't want to tell the crew's doctor. He was too proud of his own culinary skills to admit to anyone, including their doctor, that he may have given himself food poisoning. Even if it wasn't that, Sanji was also proud of his current record of avoiding illness. He rarely got sick, and it would defiantly be bothersome to have Chopper fuss over him about something so trivial.
His body tensed again, and he felt a familiar feeling of nausea build up in his stomach before he vomited, his unfocused eyes taking note of how Zoro shifted uncomfortably, eye fixed on the wall to his right.
"Why are you so worried?" He croaked when he was done vomiting up what felt like his left kidney. "You've been acting weird these past few weeks."
Zoro's eye narrowed, but didn't leave the wall. From what Sanji could see, he was biting his lower lip.
Sanji gave a shaky chuckle and pressed his forehead into the side of the bowl. "Don't tell me you're still not over that whole sex thing, you stupid Marimo."
Finally Zoro looked at him, sucking in his lower lip before slowly releasing it. "No, I'm not."
Sanji sighed into the toilet bowl and stood up, using the side of the bowl again for support. He whipped the vomit on the back of his sleeve and flushed, taking deep breaths as he did so.
"I can't 'get over' it, Sanji." Zoro said sharply, "Other times with other people, it was different. I didn't have to see them every single fucking day afterwards. Normally it's a quick fuck and that's all I hear from them."
"Well, you probably should have thought of that in the first place, before fucking me." Sanji growled and indicated with his hand for the swordsman to move. He seriously needed to brush his teeth after that episode.
"You know damn well that I wasn't in my right mind," Zoro said from his new place by the window, making himself comfortable against the wall. "And if I remember correctly, neither were you."
Sanji echoed, "Remember correctly?"
Zoro's scowl deepened, "Yeah, and you weren't complaining either."
Sanji felt himself snap after that comment, but rather than go into a full blown rage and exchange blows with the swordsman, he seethed "I doubt you would have stopped even if I had, you fucking brute."
Zoro raised an eyebrow. When he spoke, his voice came out calm, but shook with undeniable rage. "Are you calling me a rapist?"
Sanji stood his ground and put his toothbrush away, glaring at the swordsman through the mirror he said very quietly, making sure to meet his eyes squarely, "If the shoe fits."
He heard the other man's snarl of rage before he saw his fists. Turning around quickly, he dodged the first punch, but failed on the second.
Zoro's fist made contact with his cheek, and Sanji saw stars. He backed away against the door, preparing for a third punch, but it didn't come.
Zoro stood opposite to him with a murderous expression on his face and fists still raised. "Don't," he growled, "Ever call me that again."
He walked past Sanji after that and shoved him aside none too gently, opened the door and slammed it closed. Probably waking up the whole ship in the process.
His cheek stung, but he knew he deserved it. As angry as he was, he had no right to call Zoro that. They were supposed to be Nakama, no matter what. And although they always argued, he couldn't recall a time where Zoro had ever hit him so hard.
Shit, he thought as he grasped the basin of the sink for support. He'd really messed up there. But some dark, satisfied voice in his head told him that it was for the best. That maybe now, Zoro would leave him alone and keep his feelings to himself.
Why couldn't that idiot grasp the concept of a one night stand?
{*}
Another week later, and he was still throwing up.
They'd finally arrived at a new island in the early hours of the morning, meaning that the whole crew was awake and lively as they chatted excitedly about what the new island might have. Most of them, except for Sanji.
He still hadn't seen Chopper, and Zoro hadn't bothered him about it since they'd fought. He stood on the second floor, leaning forward on the railing and taking a drag of a freshly lit cigarette. One arm was propped up on the railing for support, the other was nursing his stomach.
But nobody paid attention to him, which he was grateful for. They were too busy with the preparation for the island. He knew he should get started on an early breakfast- especially for the girls- but for once he couldn't find any motivation for it.
This was lasting too long to be simple food poisoning.
He was tired all the time now too, finding simple tasks like cooking exhausting. Certain smells had caused him to wind up in the bathroom again, face pressed against a toilet bowl. And he was always feeling too damn hot, no matter what clothes he wore.
The rest of the crew was beginning to notice.
His roommates complained that he made the bedroom too hot, and that they needed to open the window to cool the room down. Sanji would complain in the middle of the night though, sounding whiney—and he knew it. But it was insane! One moment, he'd be freezing cold and the next he'd be boiling hot. His emotions jumped too, as Robin once pointed out to him. He'd be snappy, then completely calm, then upset over random things….
It was just too weird.
Even Luffy had asked him if he was feeling alright one day, when he'd served the Captain a drink he'd normally make only for the girls. Realising his mistake, he snapped at his Captain and told him he felt fine and that if he didn't want the drink he should have just said so.
He grimaced out of his musings when his stomach gave a rather uncomfortable lurch.
Chopper had been watching him too, he'd noticed. But the little doctor didn't say anything. He was probably waiting for Sanji to come to him first. And that only made Sanji feel guilty. He was being a burden on his crew. A liability. God, if it wasn't for his food he'd sware Luffy would just send him packing.
He inwardly groaned. He was being stupid now, Luffy wouldn't send him away just because he was being too emotional. He knew his Captain better than that.
He exhaled some smoke before throwing the cigarette on the floor and stamping on it. Franky could yell at him later for it if he wanted to. He didn't give a damn at this point.
"Oi, Shit cook, you gonna come help out or just stand there?" Zoro called out from where he was hauling boxes.
"One of these days, I'm going to kick you so hard you'll cough up a lung, arsehole." Sanji warned, but Zoro only smirked and went on his way.
As he made his way down the steps, he saw Chopper walk past with an arm full of medical supplies- presumably on his way to the infirmary to see what he'd need to stock up on.
"Hey, Chopper," He stopped the little reindeer, "Could I come talk to you later? It's about something…" He glanced away nervously, a slight blush colouring his cheeks, "You know, personal."
The little doctor's eyes lit up at this, and he smiled warmly up at him. "Of course you can, Sanji! Once we dock, I'll make sure to take a good look at you!" he promised, then continued on to the infirmary.
Sanji felt like he should point out that he hadn't mentioned anything about a check-up, but it was too late to do so anyway.
True to his word, after Sanji had made them all an amazing breakfast and they'd docked on the island that looked kinda like a tourist destination city, Chopper had guided Sanji into his infirmary to take a look at him.
"I won't lie to you Sanji," Chopper began as Sanji took a seat on the edge of the infirmary bed, "I've noticed you weren't acting right these past few days."
Sanji shrugged, "I didn't want to bother you. I just thought it was food poisoning."
Chopper frowned, "You wouldn't have bothered me, Sanji! It's my job to take care of you when you're feeling sick!" he scolded firmly, causing Sanji to wince slightly.
"Yeah, I know…"
"It doesn't matter now," Chopper sighed and pulled out an instrument Sanji knew was to check his blood pressure. "What matters is that you came to me eventually, right?"
Sanji just nodded, not sure of what else to say.
"So what seems to be wrong?"
Sanji explained his troubles to the reindeer, who listened with rapt attention. He frowned at the mention of mood swings and the rise and fall of the temperature, and even cocked his head to the side when he mentioned fatigue.
When he was done, the doctor didn't say anything for a moment, just studied Sanji with a critical eye.
"How long has this been going on for?" Chopper questioned seriously, turning around and extracting a syringe from a drawer. Sanji eyed it warily.
"I dunno, three to four weeks maybe?" he offered up, his eyes focused on his friend, watching for a reaction. The doctor's frown only deepened.
"Four weeks?" he echoed.
Sanji nodded.
"Huh. Alright then, I'll take your temperature and see if there's any fever." Chopper murmured and set the syringe on a tray beside the bed. He proceeded to hand Sanji a thermometer and instructed him to place it under his arm. In less than two minutes, it beeped and Chopper read the temperature out loud.
"37 degrees Celsius, so no fever then." The doctor remarked.
Sanji thought that was odd, generally linking sickness to fever. He'd thought the hot and cold spells he'd been suffering would mean he at least had a mild fever.
After five minutes, Sanji had his blood pressure tested, his heart monitored and his weight taken. When it was all done, Chopper sat down in a chair opposite him with a firm frown fixed on his face.
"You seem physically healthy, but that doesn't explain why you feel so sick." The reindeer sighed, closing his eyes briefly. "I couldn't see any bloating, and you haven't had any constipation?"
Sanji blushed at Chopper's bluntness, but shook his head. Chopper sighed again.
"I'm going to have to take a blood sample. The results will only take a few hours."
"Alright, you're the boss."
He only flinched slightly when the syringe pricked his arm, but it was more out of habit than pain. When it was over, he couldn't talk the child like doctor out of sticking a bright yellow band aid over the puncture wound.
"I'll come get you in a few hours, okay?" Chopper chirped happily, all seriousness of the matter washed away in an instant, leaving Sanji smiling softly.
"Sure thing."
He spent the hours after that shopping with the crew on the island, Zoro having been left behind to watch the ship. But secretly Sanji suspected Nami had planned this in case the moss head got lost in the huge city. He helped the girls carry their items and found out from them that the Mayor of the town had no issue with them staying for the next few days, providing there was no trouble.
He also grabbed some much needed kitchen and food supplies, stocking up for what seemed to be a year when in reality it would probably only last them a few weeks with Luffy's stomach.
They didn't return until dusk, where Sanji happily watched the sun set as he walked back with the girls. No doubt everyone else was already back, and Chopper would have the results of the blood test back and be able to tell him what was wrong with his body. His mood had been greatly lifted by that prospect, and by the fact that not once since this morning had he thrown up.
He helped the others—mainly the girls—put away their supplies before heading over to the infirmary to see Chopper.
"Ah, you're back!" Chopper exclaimed when he saw him, shifting nervously in his chair.
Sanji's eyes didn't miss this. Chopper looked uncomfortable and wouldn't stop fidgeting. Most importantly, he wasn't looking Sanji in the eyes.
"Something wrong, Chopper?" He asked casually, again taking his place on the edge of the bed and leaning back against the wall so only his feet jutted out the side.
"Wrong? No! Why would anything be wrong, Sanji?" The reindeer laughed nervously, something else Sanji didn't miss. "I think you're just imagining things!"
Sanji frowned, tempted to light a cigarette up just to have something to do with his hands. Instead, he folded his arms.
"You're acting weird. Just tell me if I'm dying or not so you can treat me, idiot." Sanji didn't like the way Chopper was acting. If something was seriously wrong, surely Chopper could fix it. He tried to keep his voice even, but just the shred of concern for his own health mingled within his words.
Sanji watched as Chopper's face dropped, abandoning all false pretence it once held. Chopper scratched his head nervously, but looked at Sanji squarely.
"I have a theory, but it's completely ridiculous." Chopper told him. "I'm going to need to take another blood sample and then I can confirm if I was right or not."
"Go ahead then." Sanji shrugged and pulled up his sleeve on his other arm, the one without a bright yellow Band-Aid. "Are you going to tell me what your theory is?"
Chopper shook his head and kept quiet. Sanji didn't press any further, feeling sick at the thought of how serious Chopper was being.
With a green Band-Aid fixed on his other arm, mirroring the yellow one, he continued to watch as Chopper took away the sample and dismissed him, too fixed on the new sample to pay Sanji any more attention. Which was fine with the cook. But just before he left, he felt a little hoof take hold of his arm.
"Wait a second, Sanji." Chopper said, "I just want to ask you a favour."
Sanji shrugged, "Yeah?"
Chopper hesitated and bit his lower lip for a second. He didn't look at Sanji when he said, "No more smoking."
Sanji froze and stared down at the little doctor, who didn't even come up to his waist. "What do you mean 'no more smoking'?"
Chopper shuffled his feet on the hard wooden floor, looking more like a little kid than ever. But that didn't save him at all from Sanji's rising frustration.
"I mean, no more smoking. I think it's linked to your…" Chopper shuffled his feet some more, "Illness…"
Wonderful. Just what he needed on top of being sick—no more smoking.
"Fine, if you think it's linked then I'll stop." Sanji said after a moment, trying to dispel the frustration. It wasn't Chopper's fault that he was sick, it was probably his own.
"Come see me after dinner or before bed, okay? I should have the results then."
He just nodded, not trusting himself to speak without saying something he didn't mean.
{*}
A/N: Hello, readers! I've never written a fanfic for the One Piece fandom, but I've recently gotten into the series again and I love it. Especially Zoro x Sanji. So please, bear with me and help me out if I make any mistakes.
If you have any issues with Mpreg, Yaoi or graphic birth/ graphic sex- please leave unless for some reason you wish to read it. I don't want flames, only constructive criticism.
With that out of the way, thank you for reading! I can't promise regular updates, as I'm a very busy person.
Please leave a review on your way out if you liked the story so far.