A/N: Sorry about the wait for this next chapter. The first two chapters I had written at the same time, which is why I was able to post them both so quickly. But any future chapters I'm writing as I'm going so there might be a bit of a wait for them. Inspiration is sometimes hard to find, not to mention real life has a habit of getting in the way, but I will try my best to keep the wait between chapters to a minimum.

Thank you to those who reviewed the last chapter, I love to hear what you think and appreciate those who take the time to review.

"Why did you have to come with me?" Sanji muttered, walking down the streets of the village, his hand begrudgingly in the swordsmen's.

Sanji had been hoping to finally get some time to himself, after being forced to be by the idiot's side constantly for the past two days. The novelty of trying to embarrass him had long worn off, and there crew barely bat an eye anymore when the two of them 'had a moment', everyone was getting far to use to this whole situation for his liking, which was exactly why he had wanted some time alone.

"Because Nami insisted that I come along, and wouldn't leave me alone about it. And I sure as hell wasn't going to stick around there and listen to her nagging all afternoon." Zoro shrugged, starting to get more and more fed up with the situation himself.

Seeing the cook annoyed and angry was truly a wonderful sight, but two days into this whole thing and it was starting to drain on him as well. He wanted nothing more than to go back to his regular routine of training, sleeping, eating, training, sleeping…this added inconvenience of his newly found 'significant other' was messing with his routine and he was beginning to hate it.

"Don't talk about Nami-swan that way!" Sanji snapped on reflex upon hearing the other man's negative tone.

"Keep your voice down you idiot!" Zoro hissed under his breath, well aware of the guards trailing them a few feet behind them.

"Whatever Marimo." Sanji sighed, keeping any additional thoughts to himself. He wanted nothing more than to be able to insult the shit head like he use to, and possibly kick him in the head, finding it almost physically painful to have to hold back.

And it had only been two days! They still had twelve to go! There were even moments when Sanji considered coming clean to the king and dealing with any punishment he might receive, believing that anything would be better than this torture…but he had to remind himself that doing that wouldn't only risk his life, but also Zoro's, and as much as the moss headed idiot pissed him off, he was still his nakama, and it wouldn't be fair to sell him out like that. It would probably also cause the king to question all the other lies Nami had told him, and could possibly put their entire crew in danger, and that was something he couldn't live with.

"Let's go in here." Sanji said suddenly, tugging the swordsman toward a shop they just passed by.

"I don't want to go into some fruity kitchen store." Zoro huffed, tugging back on their linked hands, causing Sanji to stop.

"But I really want to go look in here…darling," he hissed through clenched teeth, seeing the guards looking their way.

"But I don't love," he answered back, almost mockingly.

"Then you can wait for me out here…or not." Sanji snapped, but not loudly enough for the guards to hear. He dropped Zoro's hand and stormed off into the store, leaving Zoro standing alone on the street.

Sanji could feel his blood boil and wanted nothing more than to escape out the back and lose that moss headed idiot once and for all, but that idea was quickly lost when he saw everything the store had to offer.

And he wasn't just talking about the amazing kitchen appliances and utensils, which really were of the highest quality, but the workers and other customers were what really caught his eye.

There had to be at least 10 women in the store, each more beautiful than the last. And what made it even better was that there wasn't a Marimo or a guard in sight, so he could freely gawk to his hearts content, and just maybe forget about this horrendous ordeal, if only for a little while.

"Sanji? Is that you?" A soft voice practically purred in his ear. He instantly recognized the voice, and quickly turned around to see the familiar blonde goddess standing beside him. He didn't think it was possible, but she may have looked even more gorgeous then he remembered.

"Lucy! It's you!" He said, slightly stunned about seeing her. He was sure after they went their separate ways the other day, that there was no way he was ever going to see her again. He assumed that she would probably be heavily guarded, at least until he and his crew departed the island. "How did you get away from the guards?"

"It's wasn't that hard. They were standing watch outside my bedroom doors, but they never seem to realize just how easily I can escape out my window. No matter how many times it happens, they never learn." She giggled, biting her lower lip.

"I'm glad to hear that. I was worried that you would get in a lot of trouble after being spotted with me."

"As overprotective as my father is, all I really have to do is give him one of these looks," She says, demonstrating the look she was talking about, "and he can never stay mad at me."

"Yeah, that would work," Sanji quickly agreed, hearts lighting up in his eyes, and could almost feel himself melt into the floor.

"I'm actually surprised you're still here. I would have thought you and your crew would've escaped. Either that or that you had been imprisoned…" She trailed off, guilt heavy in her voice at the mention of that.

"Don't worry about that. We were able to work something out with your father, and now we're free to stay here until the log resets."

"Really?" She asked, almost not believing that her father would have accepted any excuse or deal, but wasn't about to question it, and was happy that the blonde man would be around for a little while longer.

The two of them continued their hushed conversation, becoming oblivious to the world around them.

Zoro entered the store in a huff, getting fed up with having to wait for the idiot cook…not to mention those guards just kept staring at him, and it was starting to give him the creeps.

He spotted the blonde right away, and he wasn't surprised to find him swooning over some pretty blonde girl. Did that moron ever think of anything else other than women? Didn't he realize that there were far more important things in life…like training, or booze? Not to mention if the guards were to follow him into the store they could get in serious trouble if they saw him practically drooling as he spoke to the woman. That idiot needed to work out his priorities...

But this did present him with a golden opportunity to embarrass the shit out of that asshole once again. He had been getting bored of trying to embarrass Sanji on the ship, because their crew had grown to use to the idea, but here in public, amongst his precious ladies, this little game could still prove to be fun.

He walked up beside the cook, who didn't seem to notice him because he was too distracted by his conversation with the blonde. He wrapped his arm around his waist and placed a kiss on his temple.

He could feel the blonde freeze up at the contact, and turn around very slowly, his eye twitching.

"Did you find what you were looking for love?" Zoro asked innocently, seeing the blonde's face instantly tint red, and there was a look of absolute mortification on his face…perfect.

"Now's not the time," Sanji hissed, stepping away from the green haired idiot.

"Is everything alright honey?" Zoro continued, ignoring the other man's protest, his voice dripping in fake concern. He loved the reaction he got out of the other man, who was now practically vibrating in anger.

"I didn't realize that you were…" Lucy trailed off, all of a sudden feeling very stupid for how she had flirted with a man that was clearly not interested. But she could have sworn that he had genuinely liked her…and he had kissed her before when he had been chased off by the guards. But maybe she had misunderstood it, and it was nothing more than a platonic goodbye gesture…she felt like a complete idiot.

She quickly tuned away, and rushed toward the back of the store, leaving out of the back exit, before she could humiliate her self any further.

"Lucy!" Sanji shouted after her, turning back to shoot a look at Zoro, "thanks a lot asshole!" He snapped before running after her.

"What the hell?" Zoro muttered, completely confused about what was going on. He knew his little show would piss the other man off, that was the whole point of it after all, but he hadn't been expecting a reaction like that.

She had just been some random girl he had been flirting with, right? Why then did she react the way she did? And why had the shitty cook gone after her?

Did he really care that much about what some random woman thought? A woman that he would probably never see again…

The thought annoyed him more then he would ever admit, but before he could contemplate it too much, he saw the front door of the shop open, and the two guards that had been tailing them earlier walk in. He quickly ducked behind one of the selves, slowly moving in the direction he saw Sanji and the woman go, hoping he could sneak out unseen.

If he hadn't been sure of it before he came to this island, he was sure of it now…that idiot was going to be the death of him.

"Lucy, wait!" Sanji shouted, finally catching up to her. He couldn't believe how fast she could run, and was a little embarrassed about how long it had taken him to catch up to her. He grabbed her wrist, and gently pulled her into a nearby ally. "It wasn't what it looked like."

"Really? Because it sure looked like you're gay, and that you've been letting me flirt with you like a complete idiot." She gasped out, still attempting to regain her breath.

"Remember how I said that we were able to work things out with your father?" He asked, receiving a hesitant nod from the woman standing before him, "well lying to him, and telling him I was gay and involved with one of my crew mates was the only way we could convince him that I wasn't a threat to you or any of the other women on the island. And what you saw was just Zoro being an asshole and trying to embarrass me in public, because he know that the guards are keeping a close eye on us, and that I can't retaliate when he does stuff like that."

"Really?" She asked, a little hesitantly. But when she thought about it, it was actually a brilliant excuse to escape her father's ridiculous laws, so maybe it wasn't so hard to believe after all.

"Yes," Sanji nodded, taking a chance by grabbing Lucy's hand, and giving it a light squeeze. "I know it's probably not a good idea for me to be saying this, because I have no idea where a guard could be hiding, but I really needed you to know the truth. Even if we can't see each other again, I couldn't stand the idea of such a sweet, beautiful woman, thinking that I deceived her in anyway."

"Thank you Sanji, that was very nice of you." She said quietly, a smile lighting up her face. "I really wish we could've met somewhere else, under different circumstances."

"Me too." Sanji agreed, leaning his forehead against hers. He could really smell her shampoo from this position, and couldn't help as his heart rate picked up as the smell of flowers surrounded him. It was such a sweet smell, one that would make you feel good, no matter what kind of mood you were in, and he couldn't help but think that that scent suited her perfectly.

He felt a pang of disappointment as he pulled away from her and saw the sad smile on her face.

He really did wish that they could've met under different circumstances and cursed the heavens for playing such a cruel game with him. Why did he have to meet his perfect woman on an island where he could only be seen with a certain moss-headed swordsmen? Life really wasn't fair…

"There you are," came a voice from the end of the ally…speaking of life not being fair…

"Now's not the time Zoro." Sanji sighed, all the usual fight present in his voice gone in that moment.

"Well I hate to break it to you, but whether now is the time or not doesn't matter because the guards are going to be here any minute. I thought I'd lost them, but it's like they have some sort of sixth sense of something."

"Either that or you got lost wandering around like a complete moron and it was all too easy for them to spot you."

"Why did I even bother trying to warn you!? I should've just found a place to hide and watch you get arrested, and then enjoyed the thought that you'd be rotting in a cell waiting to get your balls chopped off!"

"Shut the hell up Marimo! Before I…"

"He's right Sanji," Lucy said calmly, cutting off the blonde man before he could retort. Their voices had gotten steadily louder, and there was no doubt that the guards had heard them and that they would be there any moment. "If we were seen, it would've definitely ended in you getting arrested."

"Yeah, but…" He was cut off by her lips crashing against his, and couldn't help but forget everything in that moment. All his anger, annoyance, and disappointment for their current situation vanished, and he felt like his body was floating. Unfortunately the sensation didn't last long, as she quickly pulled away, ending the kiss. "Keep up your act and be safe, and maybe one day I'll leave this island and we can meet again."

And with those words, she gave his hand one final squeeze before turning around and running to the other end of the ally, before turning the corner and disappearing from sight.

It hurt to see her go, knowing that even if she did manage to leave this island one day it was very unlikely they would ever see each other again. The journey he and his crew were on was a long and dangerous one and only the strongest individuals would be able to go where they were going.

He continued to stare in the direction Lucy had left, not hearing Zoro walk up beside him. The green-haired man pulled Sanji into his arms, wrapping him tightly in an embrace.

Sanji was about to protest, when he caught a glimpse of the guards over Zoro's shoulder, and sighed before returning the embrace. He wrapped his arms around the larger man, leaning his head against his shoulder.

Normally he would absolute detest this, hating even being within 5 feet of the other man, but in that moment he strangely didn't mind.

He hadn't realized how much he had actually liked Lucy, figuring after the last time they had met that she was just another pretty face. But seeing her again had stirred up slightly stronger feelings, and he couldn't help but be genuinely disappointed, and borderline upset about the fact that he was likely never going to see her again.

And as weird as it was, having Zoro here was actually strangely comforting. Although he would die before he ever admitted that out loud.

"Are you all right?" Zoro asked quietly, causing Sanji to shudder, feeling his breath against his ear.

What was even stranger then finding comfort in Zoro's embrace was hearing concern in his words. He figured Zoro wasn't capable of caring about other people's feelings, with the exception maybe being Chopper who the swordsmen seemed to have a soft spot for.

Sanji simply nodded, and began to pull away. Feeling the other man's breath against his ear had made him realize just how close they had been, and whether it was comforting or not, it was way too close for his liking.

"Let's just get back to the ship." Sanji muttered after a few moments, not even flinching when the swordsman grabbed his hand.

The two of them walked in silence, Sanji enjoying the continued comfort Zoro's presence brought him. For what reason that it did he would never know, and in that moment he really didn't want to think about it. He was just glad that they had their little 'act' as an excuse, and would enjoy the walk back to the ship; for once not caring about the disappointed or confused looks they were receiving from all the beautiful women around them.

So any thoughts about this chapter? What do you think is going to happen? And would you like this to end up being a true ZoSan? Or should things remain platonic? I am open to suggestions!