Pairing: Zoro/Sanji
Rating: PG
Timeline: Post Thriller Bark
~*Stronghold*~
As his heavy lids peeled open, an only slightly lighter darkness penetrating his vision, the swordsman groaned slightly in discomfort at his swiftly protesting muscles, stiff from immobility. Blinking the sleep from his eyes, he scanned the room slowly before resting his green eyes on the familiar figure at the foot of his bed. The lanky 19-year-old sat silently, his shoulders hunched, golden hair fanning over the arch of his brow, concealing his unique eyebrow and hauntingly sapphire-colored eyes.
Attempting to rise to a sitting position, Zoro was assaulted with a harsh burn throughout his body that ripped a soft moan from his lips; the eyes of the now alert blonde snapping forcefully in his direction. He now remembered that he had taken a near fatal blow during their last battle, peering down to see his body wrapped in countless bandages stained with that all too familiar crimson streak. Before Zoro could blink, his crewmate was on his feet and at his side, a pale and uncharacteristically trembling hand pressing him firmly back to the mattress, a look of deep concern apparent on his stern and unsettlingly troubled features.
The swordsman's eyes widened slightly when he noticed the moisture beginning to build in those oceanic orbs that now stared down at him with a mixture of raging emotions, and Zoro couldn't help but reach a weak, tan hand up to graze his fingertips just under the cooks right eye, feeling the heat of unshed tears and the tension of restraint that was quickly slipping beneath his deceptively gentle touch.
Sanji was never one to become emotional; in fact, Zoro couldn't honestly say that he had ever seen the blonde cry before in all the time of knowing him. So, to know that those tears, hiding behind those puffy lids beneath his now shaking fingers, were most likely his fault…it was nearly heartbreaking.
Without really thinking about what to do next, he caught one of the skinny alabaster wrists in his free hand, dragging the shocked man down to the mattress beside him, carefully wrapping his good arm around the slender waist and pulling the cook tightly to his broken body. Zoro was surprised when Sanji didn't resist, concern flooding him as the younger man actually burrowed cautiously into the crook of his neck, his body trembling against him, as if desperate for contact. Sighing deeply, the swordsman reached his bandaged arm across his own chest, seeking out the slighter form's lithe hand, grasping it tightly and lacing his larger fingers together with the long, thin ones of his partner. He could feel a hand absently threading careful fingers through his moss-colored hair, a calm settling over the silence of the bedroom.
He knew that when he recovered, this night would never be spoken of again, for he understood that Sanji had his pride and Zoro had absolutely no qualms with that. But, for now, in the darkness and the quiet of the ship's medical quarters, away from prying eyes and accusatory tongues, the both of them were allowed to be whatever they felt like being; be that hard, angry, I'm-gonna-fuck-you-up-if-you-look-at-me-wrong men or lovers that just needed to know that everything was going to be okay in the end.
As they lay there in silence, nothing but the slosh of the waves and the creaks of the ship around them, things made sense, even though they didn't have to. Twisting his sore neck slightly, Zoro gently nuzzled his nose across the cook's forehead; brushing the soft yellow hair away, he pressed chaste and comforting lips against the smooth flesh below, his breath hot on the cool skin. He felt the tense body against him shudder slightly, grip tightening on their joined hands. As the trembling ceased, a heavy sigh slipping from the blonde's lips, fanning across the swordsman's neck, Zoro allowed a tiny smile to tug at the corners of his mouth.
This was the definition of what it meant to have something beyond your dreams to live for – and, though his body was battered and broken, Zoro could honestly say that he couldn't be happier…