Yay! An other chapter at last! Enjoy!

Chapter 3

`Is this for real…?´

Those sounds. Oh shit, why couldn't the shower be louder… so he could pretend those moans was from pain and not from…!

`Why the shit is he fantasizing about me? Is he gay or something…?´ Sanji pinched the bridge of his nose. `… of coarse he's gay if he moans my name while… he… GAWD!´

He shouldn't be there. He didn't want to be there. Sanji quickly picked up the dirty waistcoat and hurried down the ladder to the library.

oOo

That day couldn't have gone by any slower. Each time they walked past the other, each time Sanji felt his gaze on his back, each time he heard that deep, annoying voice – it was eating him up inside, making him paranoid. Had the green-head stared at him this much before? How come he, Sanji, hadn't notice until now?

`Shit.´

It was ten minutes until the dinner would be served, and he was doing the finishing touch on the sauce. Everything else was already done, waiting on the table. The aromas of today's serving floated heavy in the kitchen, and Sanji could hear Luffy, Usopp and Chopper drool outside the door (he had told them that they wouldn't get any desert if they entered the kitchen before he called). Finally done with the sauce, he poured it in a sauceboat and placed it on the table, along with the steak, potatoes, salad and bread. Satisfied with the simple dish he had prepared, he wiped his hands on a towel and walked to the door to call the crew.

"YES! DINNER!"

"Get the shit away from the door, Luffy! – Nami swaaan~! Robin chwaaan~! Dinner's served ! – Don't you shitheads dare touch the food before the ladies!"

"Sanji, this smells sooo good!"

"Luffy stop, or do you want the wrath of the terrifying womanizer?"

"Eh? Woo-… snizer? Is that some kind of sea creature?"

"Yes! And it is known for its never-satisfied craving for women, always lurking in the depths of the sea, waiting for its victims. Bur fear not! I, the Great Captain Usopp, am a master of Woo-snizer-hunting!"

"Eeehh? Really? That is so cool, Usopp!"

"Nahaha… Not really, see, these creatures are easy to catch, all you have to do is to lure them with some panties, and to look for the bright, blond curls that decorate their scales…"

"Now really, Usopp?"

" – !"

"The steak smells wonderful, Sanji-kun."

"Ah~! Such sweet and kind compliments from your oh-so-kissable lips, Mellorine~! And Robin chwan, what a beautiful dress you wear! Here, let me help you to your chair…"

"No need, thank you very much, Cook-san."

`God, why is he staring at me for? Don't he have other things to do, like drinking booze or something…?´ Sanji dared a peek at the swordsman, who seemed to have a conversation with Franky, but he knew Zoro had his mind on something else, he could feel it. It was this feeling he got when fighting and the enemy were about to strike at his blind spot – he knew it would come, but couldn't see it… He wanted to kick the bastard, yell at him. And when he had the words at the tip of his tongue, he pulled them back, not wanting to embarrass the swordsman or himself.

Really. Since when did he not want to embarrass Zoro? Wasn't this yet another issue worth teasing, another meaningless trigger for one of their thousands meaningless arguments? But no, Sanji kept his silence, because if he as much as breathe a word about what he had witnessed, the Bushido would know he had heard. Shit, the whole thing had turned out to a situation Sanji couldn't grasp. Hadn't he, in secret, made fun of the green haired, trainaholic, testosterone-filled 'I'm-ripped-to-shreds-and-still-able-to-beat-the-crap-out-of-you' Zoro's gayness? And now the idiot had made it clear he was indeed gay. Who would Sanji be if he made fun of someone's sexual preferences? No one blamed him for fantasizing about Nami or Robin or any other woman who happened to cross his path. Everyone knew what he thought of when he went early to bed, or when he ogled Nami's newest bikini. Why wouldn't Zoro be allowed to imagine… not naked bodies, Sanji!

Sanji swallowed hard, because his throat had suddenly turned to sandpaper, and threw a quick glance at the swordsman in the exact same time Zoro decided to take a chance, their gazes met, stuck like that goddamned cake mixture which had doomed that day, and for that split second they both knew the other knew, before the unmistakable sound of canons brutally interrupted the Strawhats' peaceful dinner.

oOo

"Yosh!"

Luffy landed on Sunny Go's deck with a laugh, as the last masts of the marine ships crashed into the sea. Sanji and Robin had also made it to safety of the grassy deck, while the others jumped the leftovers of the three impressive ships (Zoro had dived after Chopper who had fallen into the ocean).

"There he is," Nami sighed, and tried to brush as much dust off of her top as possible. Robin smiled and waved at the marines who clung to the pieces of wood and slowly floated away.

"Well, we better get away, before other marine ship come to pick them up," said Franky. "Let's hoist the sails!"

The others agreed, and soon they flew across the waves, the marines long forgotten in the sun setting, colourful horizon.

"Sanji! Barbeque! Party!"

And who would say no to their captain at such a request? Guitar tones filled the air in minutes along with the delicious aromas of grilled meat, fish and corn. Warm summer breezes swept over Sunny Go's sails, and the Strawhats striped to lighter clothing as the day's prolonged cold weather was changed to a hot night. In between songs and fights over the first grilled ribs Luffy had started a wrestling match with Franky, which soon ended up as an odd pile of tickling and screams and pillow fight. Usopp and Nami joined in and it was just a matter of time before Zoro was dragged into it all as well (because he got really pissed when all millions of downs stuck to his grilled ribs and fell into his beer).

"Huhuhu…"

"Having fun, Robin chan?" Sanji lent against the railing beside the archaeologist, a charming smile on his face.

"Yes, very," she answered, still snickering and watching the scene under the main mast. "And you, Chef san?"

"How can I not, when I stand here beside a blossom of the sea?"

Robin threw him an amused look, and then shook her head, her snicker ebbing away.

"What are you shaking your head for? It's true," Sanji said.

"Sanji… how should I say this…"

`Ah! Have she finally come to understand her true feelings for me? This beautiful swan, flying into my arms…´

"Robin, you want some cider?" Nami handed the archaeologist at bottle of pear cider and leant against the railing beside her. She noticed Robin was giving Sanji a strange look, so she ended up looking at Sanji too.

`Th… this can't be happening? Two angels, falling in love with me…! Ghhaaa, I can die as a happy man!´

"You don't need to say anything, oh Diamonds of the sky! Let us just seal our undying love for each other with kisses as sweet as –"

"No." Nami's answer stunned him with his arms reaching out for the two women.

"Sanji, I think this has gone a bit too far now," Robin said, blooming out hands from Sanji's sides and gently pulled his arms down. "What I was going to say, is that these feelings you have for me and Nami won't be returned."

"Ever," Nami filled in. "Please don't fool yourself, you know there won't be anything between us, other than friendship."

Sanji found it difficult to form any words. "N-nami swan… Robin ch-chan…"

"And it would be so much easier for all of us if you could treat us like that, like friends, not like potential brides, it is quite embarrassing."

And with that, they left him.

oOo

Maybe it was his thirteenth beer and twenty-seventh cigarette that night, but why would he care? Sanji sat on the steps leading up to the kitchen, with his head leaning heavily in his hand and a headache slowly rising. He watched Luffy, Chopper, Usopp and Franky playing charades in the lights of colourful lanterns. Nami and Robin had gone to bed long ago, leaving Sanji all alone. How had such a romantic, enjoyable evening turned out to be such a nightmare? That day had been a total rollercoaster, and Sanji was ready to puke. Argh… He lift the bottle of beer and emptied it.

Footsteps closed up from behind him, but he didn't pay them any attention. It was probably just Usopp or Franky who wanted more grilled corn, but guess what, Sanji wasn't in the mood for cooking just now. He felt like kicking some ass, to let off some steam, because he was really pissed at everything. He was so deep in thought that he didn't notice the person sitting down beside him. Mumbling unintelligent sentences under his breath, he lost his grip of the empty bottle, the rattling noise of glass against glass as it took other empty bottles with it on its way down the stairs waking him up from his drunken slumber. Sanji looked dazed at the rolling bottles, further up the stairs at his own shoes and then at the boots beside him. Hm. He bet those boots was comfortable. Stable in battle. Black pants were stuck into them, pants that were a bit worn. Those pants were familiar… And that dark blue A-shirt, didn't it remind him of the heavens for some odd reason? Did he remember it from some dream he might have had…? Bright white clouds and flat fishes and blue sauces and gods… yeah, it must have been a dream. Sanji took a deep drag of his cigarette. Broad shoulders and a strong jaw. That green hair… Like that idiot swordsman. He had been avoiding Sanji all day, it was weird, he always picked fights over trivial matters (mostly because of Sanji's attempts of flirting with the girls, but Sanji didn't want to think about the girls right then). Zoro must have seen him converse with them earlier. So this was about that, that Marimo wanted to laugh at him. But that didn't make any sense either. Was it normal to laugh at someone you felt attracted to? Because Sanji guessed the idiot felt some sort of attraction towards him, otherwise he wouldn't fantasize him naked. And that was a thought which made him want to laugh; the man he had once seen as a rival, a threat to his ladies, an emotionless brute… turned out to be someone much alike himself.

As Sanji looked at Zoro, a very drunk look at that, he wondered what it would be like, being gay that was. Not wanting to look at women, not wanting to touch them, and not being affected by their scents or soft bodies. From Sanji's point of view, women were everything men weren't. Men did not have those curves, those petite hands, those beautiful eyes that could melt icebergs. Men were just muscles and more muscles. And why would any guy want their hands on another dudes junk when they could touch themselves? What was is with Sanji that made Zoro fantasize about him?

Zoro's lips moved. They didn't look like a woman's lips, wasn't as full as Nami's or Robin's. It must feel weird to kiss them, lips that normally were wrapped around a swords hilt. Sanji moved his sloshed gaze up to a pair of dark, iron grey eyes, and slowly it clicked for him that maybe Zoro had said something.

"… Wha'?"

Zoro repeated himself. "You want some?"

At first Sanji didn't get what the man meant, but then he saw the bottle in the swordsman's hand. He accepted it and immediately took a swing. It was whiskey, with a strong taste of oak, liquor expected when offered by that heavy drinker. The alcohol burned his throat, but the taste was perfect. Sanji nodded his thanks, because words seemed overestimated, and Zoro nodded back. He finished his cigarette and lit up a new one.

"So." Sanji turned his gaze to the stem, where Luffy, Usopp and Franky screamed with laughter at a questionable imitation of Ener preformed by Chopper. The charades was very random and it all was just a blur to Sanji's gooey consciousness.

"What?"

"I didn' know you're gay," the chef slurred, head yet again leaning in his hand. Oblivious of Zoro's stare, Sanji stuck his cigarette in between his teeth and left it there.

"Yeah?" As it was quite clear he wouldn't get an answer soon, he tried again. "When did you find out?"

"The day befo' today… yesterday."

"Oh."

What was that supposed to look like? Sanji squinted his eyes and tried to understand what kind of charade Luffy pulled off. The rubber-man was waving his arms over his head in a very disturbing manner in time with his tip-toe spins.

"Who told you?"

Sanji guided the bottle of whiskey to his mouth, but hesitated. That was a question worth its answer; who had told him? Had anyone?

"I… don' know. You, I guess." Yes, that was a reasonable conclusion. Satisfied Sanji gulped down some more whiskey.

"Huh. How did I… tell you?" Zoro received a tired 'are you stupid' look from the blonde, and Sanji waved his hand vaguely.

"You moaned my name a few times, is all." When Sanji saw Zoro's chocked expression, he gently shook his head. "I don' blame you, I masturbate all the time." The confession hung in air, long since forgotten by the chef, and a total question mark for the first mate. It didn't take long before the well built body beside Sanji started to shake, shakes that soon developed to a load guffaw. Sanji first stared dumbstruck at him, but watching that amused look on Zoro's face made him laugh as well.

"The shit are we laughin' at?" Sanji asked when he could talk again.

"You're an idiot," grinned Zoro and took the whiskey from Sanji, taking a swing himself.

An idiot, eh? Nami and Robin probably thought that about him, too. The memory of their rejection burned his heart again. "...I already knew that."

"Hey." Sanji tried to steal back the whiskey, but Zoro kept it at arm's length from him. "Hey, don't let that event get the better of you."

Sanji kept struggling to get a hold at the bottle, and was leaning halfway over Zoro. "I'm drunk, you block head, don' try tell me anythin'...!"

"They aren't the only women in the world, are they? They are still your nakama, for hell's sake!"

"The fuck did they care? No!"

"Yes, they did, 'cuz they ended something before it could hurt you even more!"

A small light of understanding lit up in Sanji's eye, and his struggling eased. "... Wha'?"

"Sanji, they love you as a friend. They value that very much, so they don't want to cross any lines, do you understand?"

The meaning of Zoro's words slowly settled inside Sanji's mind, and he rested his arms on his knees. Friends... nakama. He looked up at the group at the stem. They were all idiots, but they were still nakama, as simple as that. A breeze ruffled his hair.

"Hm." Sanji met Zoro's gaze. "You're awfully nice t'night."

The swordsman didn't have any answer at that, or it wasn't necessary, because there was this understanding between them. Sanji's lip twitched; who would have thought Zoro of all would be the one to drag him up from his miserable state? Those eyes, which normally mocked him, laughed at him, or were filled with such heart trembling rage, were suddenly warm, almost searching for something. `What does he look for...? Doesn't matter, talking with him once in a while isn't that bad. So close...´ Warm lips touched his, barely brushing his lower lip. The kiss was over before it started, and they locked eyes again. `Ah... he wanted to know if he could kiss me...´ Deep inside him something screamed that this wasn't supposed to happen, but he ignored it. He could always blame it (whatever it was) on the booze later on. Sanji leant slightly forward and Zoro met him, softly moving their lips together, and Sanji sighted because this felt so soothing and so right.

Tbc

Hm hmm, I enjoyed writing this chapter. Please review! XD