"Mistakes are the portals of discovery." ~ James Joyce


6 Months Ago

The day is sunny and bright, with a wafty breeze that hit Zoro's face just enough to cool it. The ocean glints before him, in all its sapphire beauty, while his crazy group of friends shout and shriek within its gentle waves. Zoro watches with amusement, from his low lounge chair on the shore, as Usopp dunks Luffy for about the tenth time, as Luffy has no idea how to swim.

Zoro is enjoying himself as well. His ideal last day, may not contain him getting buried in sand every time he falls asleep, or being forced to rub sun tan lotion on Nami's back, but it is certainly a good way to spends his last days with his friends before he flies off to South America.

He takes a long pull from his bottle, draining the last warm dregs of it. He smiles as he watches Chopper join Usopp and Luffy, climb on top of Usopp's shoulder in an attempt to help Luffy, but instead ends up falling in the water himself.

Nami and Robin are lounging next to Zoro, sun tanning. Nami is reading some trashy magazine, and Robin is reading a book as thick as an encyclopedia. Brook is parked on the other side of them, strumming a guitar mindlessly and sneaky peaks at their bikini clad bodies, being the perverted old man he is. Franky disappeared a while ago, promising to come back with something "super". Robin told Zoro and Nami, in a low voice and mischievous smile, that it's a speed boat that Franky has apparently made himself.

The only friend that's missing is Sanji. But that isn't exactly a rare occurrence. Sanji is busy being married to Pudding, like he's been for years now.

Zoro tries to ignore the twist of pain he gets in his chest, and the roll of nausea he feels in his gut every time he thinks about Sanji and Pudding…

Zoro knows that he needs to stop thinking about Sanji. He has to stop obsessing over a happily married man.

So, it will be good for him to go to South America. Good to get away from Sanji and Pudding, and all the fucking pain that comes with it.

As Zoro is thinking about his upcoming trip, he hears the sound of a car pulling up behind him. He, as well as the others sprawled lazily on the beach, look over to see Franky's jeep, with Franky looking very pleased sitting in the driver's seat.

In the passenger seat, sits Sanji.

Zoro feels shock, and then delight race through him. His heart beat climbs to new heights and he fumbles his beer bottle a bit in his shock to stand up.

Franky with a wide grin, honks the horn, then exits the jeep.

"SANJI!" Luffy shouts from the water, predictably followed by, "FOOD!"

Because, sure enough, Sanji is exiting the car himself with a cooler full of food. He places it on the ground for a moment and then hurriedly opens the back door. Zoro supposes there is probably even more food in the back. He stares at Sanji's slim figure, his heart beat still loud in his ears.

But soon, his heart sinks like a stone. Because there is a cooler in the back of the large jeep, but it is carried by feminine pearl coloured hands.

Pudding is here too.

Zoro hastily looks away. He hears the rest of his friends all gather around Sanji, greeting him happily.

Zoro knows it's rude of him not to do so as well, but his eyes keep wandering to Pudding's graceful form, and he hesitates. She has on a large white beach hat, big sunglasses, and a pretty yellow summer dress. She looks picture perfect, and even more so standing beside Sanji. Sanji is decked out in a white button up shirt, and khaki shorts, making his pale skin look a bit darker, and matching well with Pudding. They look like those couples you see in catalogues, too happy to be real.

Zoro can't stand to watch anymore. He sits down, going into his own cooler, and pulling out one of his last beers. He stares stubbornly at the ocean, as he hears the happy chatter echoing behind him.

No one calls out to him to greet Sanji. It seems they are all too busy eating Sanji's food and talking happily with him themselves. Zoro sips his warm beer, and watches as the sun sinks a bit lower, turning the sea red and gold.

He expects everyone, except maybe Luffy, to continue to ignore him, especially while they are eating what smells like delicious food straight from the Baratie. So, it's a surprise, when he hears the soft thumps of footsteps in the sand, and the low husky smoker's voice of Sanji talking above him.

"Hey Moss head."

Against Zoro's better judgement, he looks up at the stupid nickname, and sees Sanji's wide grinning face staring down at him. The bright sunshine shines brightly off Sanji's blonde hair, the sea breeze blowing it into his bright blue eyes. He looks happy, but tired. Zoro sees the bags under his eyes and the slight drop of his shoulders.

Zoro feels his mouth go dry at the sight of him, and hastily turns away, trying to keep his face neutral and not show any of the mixture of pain and joy stirring in the deepest part of his chest. This is why he avoids Sanji when he comes back to the states. This is why he always tries to arrange things when Sanji will be busy or working. And Sanji always seems only too happy to comply with the excuses Zoro hopes he will give. This is the first time in ages that Zoro has seen him.

Why is Sanji even here? Sanji said he and Pudding were doing some kind of fundraiser thing and didn't have time for the beach. Zoro had been relieved and disappointed when he heard that. He's always such a mess of emotions around Sanji.

"What are you doing here, Curly?" Zoro asks, looking ahead stubbornly at the ocean, but being super aware of everything Sanji is doing beside him.

Zoro is surprised again, when Sanji sits down next to him, in one swift motion, with a long sigh.

"I convinced Pudding to cancel," Sanji says, and Zoro sneaks a peak at him. He's pulling out a cigarette and placing it between his thin lips. He turns and catches Zoro looking, but only smiles around the cigarette.

Zoro hastily turns away, feeling a rush of emotions almost make him want to run away or do something else drastic like kiss Sanji right here and now… in front of everyone.

"Why'd you do that?" Zoro asks gruffly again, trying to sound like he doesn't give a shit what the answer will be.

"I had to see you off," Sanji comments lightly, like it's no big deal that he would cancel plans with Pudding for Zoro. "I haven't seen you for a while. Plus, I hate those functions. Pudding always promises that they won't be boring, but they almost always are."

Sanji smiles at Zoro again, in this soft way that just catches at Zoro's heart and won't release him.

"Do what you want," Zoro mutters gruffly under his breath.

Sanji lets out a breath of laughter and leans back further in the lawn chair. He really does look tired; his whole body seems to sag deeper into the sand.

"I needed a beach day anyways," He says under his breath. "It's been a long week."

"Hard week at work?" Zoro asks.

Sanji hesitates for a moment, giving Zoro a small glance before nodding. "Yeah. Works been hell. New case and it's not going well."

"Sucks, cook," Zoro comments. Sanji shrugs, then takes out his lighter, to finally light the cigarette dangling from his mouth. Zoro watches him for a moment, and then forces himself to look away from Sanji's mouth. He can't linger long on places like Sanji's lips, places he has no right to look at or ache for...

He does see though, a slight shake in Sanji's hand, as he goes to take the cigarette from in between his teeth and feels a stab of concern. Sanji only shakes like that when he's low on cigarettes, or very stressed. The only worse thing would be tugging his hair, or shutting down every emotion completely…

"Should take some time off then," Zoro says firmly. "If you're stressed."

Sanji lets out a low sarcastic laugh. "Unlikely. It's sort of a hectic time with that case. Plus, Pudding really wants her Charity Bake to go over well … That's the fundraiser I was going to go to. I have to help her with all that, plus the grand opening of her café. Not to mention I need to help Zeff with the Baratie. He fired his Sous Chef again. Or he says he did. The guy probably quit. You can't yell at people like Zeff does and except them to stay."

"Sounds like you need a vacation more than ever," Zoro says, pointedly again. And Sanji halts, and gives Zoro a sheepish look.

"I guess so," he says with a small huff.

"Should at least go to that aquarium you always liked, down on Blue Street," Zoro says after a small moment of careful thought. He remembers going there with Sanji on a high school field trip back when they were juniors, and the how Sanji had loved it. His face had lit up like a Christmas tree. He'd been the first to get in, and the last one to leave. After the field trip, Sanji would always go there when he was feeling bad, overwhelmed, or stressed, sometimes dragging Zoro with him.

As a high school shit head, Zoro had hated Sanji back then, or at least thought he had. But when he'd seen him at the aquarium, Sanji's face split with a wide boyish smile, that stretched almost as far as Luffy's, Zoro had not felt hatred. It'd been the first time Zoro had ever felt the now familiar jolt in his chest, and the first time he'd thought Sanji wasn't as big an asshole as he had previously thought…

Zoro shakes off the lingering memories and realizes that Sanji hasn't said anything about Zoro's suggestion to visit the aquarium. He glances over and sees Sanji looking at him in surprise.

"You… remember All Blue Aquarium?" Sanji asks, wonderingly.

Zoro frowns.

"Of course, I fucking remember it," Zoro says with a slight eye roll. "You loved that place. It always made you feel better too."

Sanji's bright blue eyes study Zoro for a moment, cutting into Zoro rather sharply, like sea glass in the sun. And slowly, Sanji's shock and scrutiny melts into another expression that Zoro has ever seen on Sanji's face before. And for once, Zoro has no idea what emotion it is or what Sanji is feeling. It's a soft incredulous look. A look of happy amazement, that seems to calm Sanji's solid blue eyes into softer waves. It makes Zoro's heart skip, and for one moment as they look at each other, Zoro feels like those blue eyes are seeing him. Seeing him for what he is, and what he feels, and that Sanji … that he knows…

The moment… or whatever it is, is broken by Pudding's voice.

"Sanji!" She shouts. "Come here!"

Sanji's eyes flicker away at the sound of her voice, turning towards her immediately, and breaking off any sort of look that Sanji and Zoro had shared.

As Sanji looks away, so does Zoro, and this time he feels like he's reeling and slightly lost. It feels like he's crashed into reality after flying in a dream for a brief moment. So brief it could be, he imagined it…

Disappointment and anger fill his chest, as he again glares at the ocean, trading the blue colour of Sanji's eyes with the sea's. His grip tightens on his beer bottle.

"Should go to the aquarium with Pudding," He mumbles, his voice sounding slightly bitter. He hopes Sanji doesn't notice.

Sanji clears his throat. "Uh... yeah. Maybe. I- uh better go. It was good talking to you again, Mossy."

Sanji stands up, and brushes sand off his pants, waving at Pudding, who nods at him, with a sweet but strained smile. She pointedly ignores Zoro, which isn't that odd, as Pudding never warmed to him like she has to all of Sanji's other friends. She may have even sensed the resentment and dislike he held for her. He wondered if she could sense the jealousy too.

Zoro imagines her with Sanji at the aquarium, holding his hand, as they both light up and grin at the beauty of the fish in the sea. Even now seems to promise that they're going to have a glorious time racing through the surf.

And as Sanji walks away, Zoro feels the pain rip through his chest yet again. He grits his teeth, and tries to ignore it, tries to control it.

But it makes him feels like shit. And as he sits there, he comes to a decision.

He knows that he isn't going to be gone for a just a few weeks in South America. He needs more time. Maybe a month, or a few… He isn't sure.

All he knows is he never wants to feel this helpless and pathetic again.

He never wants to see Sanji with Pudding, knowing how fucking happy they are, with almost everything Zoro wants.

He knows that means staying away for as long as he possibly can.


8 hours from now.

When Zoro wakes the next morning, it takes him a long time to figure out where he is. He blinks at the unfamiliar ceiling in a sleepy haze. Its only when he catches a small whiff of cigarette smoke that it all comes rushing back to him in what feels like a tidal wave.

Sanji kissing him. Himself kissing Sanji.

Zoro feeling creamy skin under his own rough touch, feeling Sanji's hot breath on his neck, and the feel of Sanji's heartbeat against his own. He remembers lifting Sanji's shirt before a hiss of pain had finally stopped him and Sanji from holding each other as close as possible. Instead of skin, his fingers had brushed Sanji's bandage.

They'd sat their foreheads leant together and panting in the same air.

"Shit. Hurts," Sanji had mumbled his lips brushing Zoro's own.

"Let me suck you off," Zoro had said, his brain still whirling. "That won't hurt...much."

Sanji had shuddered. Zoro had panicked for a hazy few seconds, thinking it was from disgust. He watched Sanji's shoulders tense and loosen, and then he had surged forward, and kissed Zoro fiercely. Any misgivings had flown out of Zoro's head...

Then Sanji had leaned back, his lips cherry red and swollen.

"Sure."

Zoro shivers remembering the rest of the night in hot vivid flashes, like bolts of lightning and heat. He remembers the way he'd kissed Sanji's pale skin. The way Sanji had gasped and moaned beneath his touch. The way he'd picked Sanji up, his legs wrapped around Zoro's waist and deposited him in a bed. A bed. Zoro had never hoped that he would get so far with Sanji. And after he'd made Sanji gasp and cry out in various tones of pleasure and pain, a cacophony of sounds that Zoro had only dreamed about, Sanji had passed out in a post orgasmic bliss, the drugs kicking in, and making him sleep as soundly as calm waters.

Sanji's golden hair had been pale in the moonlight and graced his cheek with a silver touch. His breathing had been even, and his face care free of worry or concern. He had seemed like a dream, something unreal and untouchable.

But Zoro had reached out and brushed Sanji's cheek, watching in mild amazement when Sanji would stir and a ghost of a smile would appear, almost like Zoro's touch had made Sanji feel happy and at peace…

Zoro had tried to force himself to stay awake, unwilling to close his eyes and let everything slip away…

But obviously he'd been too tired and drained from the past few days to force himself awake for a full night, especially with how soothed his own heart was…

Now, it's taking him a long time to believe that what happened last night wasn't a dream.

Yet here he is, in Sanji's bed, half naked. He's also alone, but he can hear movement in the kitchen. He sits up quickly, his head in his hands. He tries to stop himself from panicking but can't.

He should be elated. Last night was probably the best night of his life. But worry is slowly gnawing at the happiness like a dog chewing a bone. This isn't last night, this is this morning.

Zoro has been in this situation before. He is the king of casual sex. He knows the art of leaving as fast as possible, and he knows the different feelings people have when the morning sun rises, and the night's passions fade away. A lot of people regretted sleeping with Zoro or regretted their rash decision to have casual sex at all. Although, most of the time they enjoyed it, thanked him and he'd never hear from them again.

Sanji is obviously different. And Zoro is pretty sure he couldn't stand it if Sanji told him something similar to those vast numbers of people who had left Zoro as well.

Besides that, Sanji has been known to make bad decisions while drunk and regret them in the morning… he was had been slightly drugged last night… would he be angry at Zoro for taking advantage? Had Zoro taken advantage? Zoro feels worry and trepidation stampede through him quickly.

He knows though that it won't do any good staying in bed, cowering like a pathetic weakling.

He flips off the covers and grabs the closest item of clothing he finds. He finds his sweats in a pile, thrown there the night before. Zoro opens the door carefully, worry and fear waring each other for the most space in his heart.

The sight that greets Zoro is one that he will not be forgetting any time soon. Sanji is in the kitchen, cooking something on the stove, pancakes by the smell of it. The smell of coffee also tinges the air and makes Zoro feel wider awake just with the smell of it. Sanji himself is wearing his sleepwear. Striped pajamas, and a white sleeved top. He has his back to Zoro, but his movement is as graceful as ever, his hair is shining bright gold in the kitchen light. It makes Zoro feel an absurd joy at the sight. The only thing that would make him happier if Sanji was wearing one of his t-shirts… but he realizes that's impractical. He only has the one he wore and even Zoro lost track of it after he threw it away last night.

He steps out of the bedroom nervously and walks the short distance to the island at the kitchen.

"Morning, Cook," He says clearing his throat of sleep. He feels awkward even before Sanji turns around and stares at him.

He isn't smiling.

"Um... morning," Sanji says and gives him a small smile. But there is a deep worry in those blue eyes, as it scans Zoro's face critically as if looking for something wrong with him already.

Zoro also studies Sanji, looking at his tired face, and his slightly slouched figure. His eyes land on the small bundle under his t-shirt.

"You feeling OK?" Zoro asks, worry about having hurt Sanji bubbling up in him like a boiling pot of glue, sticking to his chest painfully.

Sanji only nods though, still looking uncomfortable. "Fine… took some pain killers this morning. I'm good… at least my stab wound is…"

He trials off, and an awkward silence follows.

Zoro doesn't like Sanji's wording. His stab wound is OK, but something else isn't? Was Sanji regretting last night already?

Zoro feels a sick feeling grow in his stomach, like a peach pit blossoming into a demented fearsome tree.

"So," Sanji says a rubbing the back of his head awkwardly, a spatula in his other. "I just want to say… I'm not sure… Well… I mean I just want to be clear that, well-"

But Zoro can't hear anymore, because he knows what Sanji is going to say, with a certainty that frightens him. He already feels his heart breaking into a thousand pieces. There's just no way he can hear Sanji tell him that last night was-

"I think that maybe last night was a mistake," Sanji says softly staring at the floor.

And there it is. Zoro can't believe how one measly sentence can make him feel as if someone's ripped his chest open again, except this time they dumped glass shards inside him and shook him up, to make sure he felt every ounce of pain. He isn't sure he's felt this horrible since his sister had died. He isn't even sure he can think a coherent thought after being rejected by the one person he's wanted for so long...

If he'd known, it would be this painful he never would have said anything.

"I just mean," Sanji says, looking at Zoro desperately, "I … sex like this – it isn't really-"

"I get it," Zoro says, and is surprised his voice isn't as broken as he is. It sounds cold, and steely as if he's cutting the air with his voice as he would cut a body with his sword. Sanji flinches at his tone. Zoro's never seen Sanji flinch.

"You... do?" Sanji's voice is tiny and quiet.

"Yeah," You don't want to have sex with a man. I fucking get it. I get it. And in that moment Zoro feels like he truly hates Sanji.

"I think it was a mistake too," Zoro says to save what's left of his heart. If he pushes himself away from it, distances himself he might have some scraps leftover.

"Oh," Sanji says and he looks at his feet, and won't look up.

Coward. Zoro thinks but knows it's not true.

Sanji is one of the bravest people he knows.

He feels his throat and his eyes burn. Everything is burning. Last night he was burning too but then he'd welcomed the fire, it had felt like life. This fire felt like death.

"It was a pity fuck," he announces. This makes Sanji's eyes snap up to him, a bit of fiery anger burning. But there's hurt there too.

Good. Zoro thinks. If he has to fall apart then so does Sanji.

He has to get out of here before Sanji sees what he did to Zoro… is doing to him.

"Shouldn't have done it," He says gruffly, and sincerely. Sanji's blue eyes swim with some emotion Zoro can't, and doesn't have the energy, to identify. Zoro's eyes are swimming with a more liquid substance as he turns away.

Sanji says nothing. And the moment that Zoro has dreaded for years, sits with them, pushing Zoro down further and further until he feels only inches tall. He feels a tear slide down his cheek. He needs Sanji gone. He needs to go.

"You should probably find another flight to wherever the fuck you're going," Zoro says softly, and is still surprised his voice hasn't shaken once. It's less steely now, more wobbly.

"But-" Sanji begins to say but cuts himself off.

"Ok," And Sanji's voice sounds odd... off. Zoro realizes he feels guilty. Guilty for what he did to Zoro.

Sanji is pitying him.

Zoro doesn't want his pity. It's the last thing he wants.

He desperately looks and sees his bag in the far corner of the kitchen. He never even got unpacked. He heads towards it.

"I'll talk to you later," He offers, throwing into the moment, the dreadful black fucking moment, one reassurance that everything isn't destroyed. "Call me... when you're safe." He adds, pleading a bit there. His voice isn't even cold anymore, just quiet. He needs out of here. He needs to not be by Sanji.

Another tear cascades down his face. He wipes it, hoping Sanji didn't see.

"Yeah… I will," Sanji voice is soft too.

Zoro grabs his bag and reaches for the door. He doesn't look back, only gives a sideways nod, and leaves the apartment slamming the door behind him.

He only makes it to the elevator before he breaks down completely.


By the time Zoro makes it to Luffy's house, he's still a wreck, but he isn't screaming, crying or punching things, so it's an improvement.

When he knocks on Luffy's door though, instead of the bright-eyed boy he's desperate to talk to, he runs into the person he least wants to see right now (besides the cook): Nami.

Nami takes one look at him though, and surprisingly doesn't say anything. She only steps aside to let him in.

"Get in here," And her voice isn't as harsh as Zoro thought it would be. She actually is looking at him in a sad way.

"Sanji just called Robin," Nami says with a sigh. "He says you aren't flying him anymore."

Zoro walks with Nami into the kitchen, where he's surprised to see, are all his friends are seated, talking in low voices. It's bizarre enough they're all this quiet, but even weirder when they all look at him with the same sadness in Nami's eyes.

"Alright sit down," Nami says and pushes him into a bar stool, "And tell us what the fuck happened."

Zoro numbly looks around at them. Chopper looks at him with tears cascading down his face. Usopp is looking confused and worried. Franky is also sobbing in the background. Robin looks rigid, a frown also on her face. Brook for some reason isn't looking at him but off to the side, his face drawn as well. And Luffy… Luffy is looking at him in that way he does, with that knowing in his eyes, as if he can see Zoro better then Zoro can.

"Come on," Nami says with a huff. "Tell us."

Zoro just blinks at her. He feels numb now. He remembers feeling this way vaguely when Kuina had died. But one had died today. It wasn't that big a deal, it wasn't like anything tremendously sad had even happened. He'd just been rejected by Sanji. He had just been ... rejected … by…

He breathed in a ragged breath. And put his head in his hands again, feeling his control slipping slightly. He concentrates for a few long seconds, breathing through his nose, and forcing the control back.

When he thinks he can speak without his voice trembling, he speaks to the very eerie silent room. "He wasn't interested," he grits out.

"That's it?" Nami prods, in that gentle way again. Its unnerving Zoro.

"What else do you want me to say?" He snaps, his anger thankfully sealing the last of the pain securely away. He lifts his head and glares at her.

She is unfazed, and stares back, studying him closely.

"I believe Nami means," Robin says and steps forward, "That we want to know exactly what Sanji said-"

The name of the cook ripples through Zoro like a sound wave. He glares at Robin and interrupts her.

"He says he wasn't interested because I was a guy. Just like I thought, like I knew." And he had known, hadn't he? "I'm so stupid," he mumbles and glares at the floor.

"I don't get it," Nami says with a shake of her head. "I was so sure…"

"We all were," Usopp agrees. "Sanji really seemed-"

"Well he wasn't," Zoro growls.

"Tell us exactly what he said," Nami demands.

Zoro does not want to relive one of the most painful moments of his life and is about to tell Nami to go to hell when Luffy speaks up.

"Yeah, Zoro tell us what Sanji said. Cause this is weird and doesn't make sense."

"It does make sense. He's not fucking interested."

"Just start from right after you told him," Nami says impatiently.

Zoro shifts in his seat and gives her a glare.

When she doesn't let up, he lets out a sigh, rubbing his forehead and thinking.

He realizes that he never actually did say any of the crap he'd been rehearsing. Not that it mattered now.

"I didn't tell him," he admits. His comment immediately gets a large reaction from everyone. Chopper stomps his foot like a child, Nami rakes a hand down her face in frustration, and everyone else basically groans. Except Luffy who just stares at Zoro with a frown and Robin who sighs.

"You absolute idiot!" Nami growls and hits him on the head.

He glares at her, rubbing the new sore spot, like he didn't have enough pain to deal with at the moment.

"How the hell do you know if he rejected you if you didn't confess?" Usopp cries in frustration.

Zoro glares at Usopp but thinks back to the hot and passionate night with Sanji. He's never felt so good while with someone.

Just thinking about it made something inside Zoro twist with immense unbearable pain. He glares at Nami, feeling a bit of that anger directed towards her, for forcing him into this.

He decides to be blunt about what happened, they would find out somehow anyways.

"We kissed …and fooled around," he mumbles lightly.

There's a shocked silence.

Chopper actually speaks up first looking horrified. "Sanji shouldn't be doing any strenuous physical activity like that!"

Zoro shrugs dully. "He was fine. Sanji's tough as hell … besides things just sort of escalated. So, I didn't get out what I was going to say to him…but then this morning…" He takes a deep gulp of air and continues on, determined to get it out, like extracting poison from a wound.

"This morning he said it was a mistake."

There's another beat of silence. Zoro glances up and stares at Nami who looks at him with narrowed eyes and Chopper is still looking at him slightly horrified. But it's Luffy who actually talks first. And for some reason he laughs.

"Wow you're an idiot Zoro," Luffy says with a shake of his head. "If Sanji did sexy stuff with you then he likes you! Sanji only sleeps with people he loves! You know that."

Zoro frowns at Luffy.

"It's not that simple-" He starts to say but Nami cuts across him.

"I can't believe I'm saying this about relationship advice," she says with a sigh herself, "But Luffy's right. And you should know this Zoro. Sanji doesn't get physical with people on a whim. He doesn't do fucking. He 'makes love'." She air quotes the last line and rolled her eyes again. She is always very clear that she thinks like Zoro and that romance is bullshit.

"No," Zoro says firmly. "He was freaked out. He-"

"Zoro," Robin says now, stepping up beside him and giving him a gentle look herself. "I think you should really think about the way Sanji reacted this morning. Did he state clearly that he didn't want to be with you? Did he tell you to get out?"

Zoro frowns, not wanting to relive the painful memories. Instead, he shakes his head.

"You're wrong. He doesn't want me-"

"Zoro," Nami talks over him, "Please don't do this to yourself again."

Zoro frowns at her now. "What are you talking about? I didn't do anything to-"

"I believe Nami is referring to your self-destructive nature," Robin offers softly. "You see what you want, Zoro. Your stubbornness has constantly cost you happiness. You seem to think you don't deserve it…"

"What- no I don't!" Zoro insists, staring at them incredulous. "I'm not the one who sacrificed my dreams! I'm not the one who gave up! That's you all!"

There's a moment of silence, the shocked kind. Zoro immediately feels guilty… but it doesn't last, as there's a soft break out of incredulous laughter.

"Are you crazy?" Usopp says, with a shake of his head. "We don't regret where we are in life…"

"Yeah Zoro," Chopper says with a smile of his own. "Just because we aren't chasing dreams from when we were teenagers, doesn't mean we aren't happy. I love being a teacher! I like it much more than being a doctor. I find it even more fulfilling… and less stressful."

"And I'm happy to have found a job where I get to draw and get paid for it," Usopp says with an eye roll, "I would have been starving or something as an artist, and never have been able to support Kaya. It's just simple math. I'm just as happy as I've never been."

"Zoro," Robin says softly again. "We're happy with the changes we've made in life. We look ahead and we change. You however are stuck in the past."

"She's right," Luffy says with a nod, a smile on his face that's full and incredulous as well. "You're thinking of the old Sanji. But the new Sanji is less stupid and knows what he wants! And that's you!"

"Yeah moron," Nami says with a shake of her head, "It's obvious."

"Really bro," Franky says, and he's wiping tears away now, "We all know it."

"It's the love story of the ages!" Brook supplies next.

And as Zoro stares at them all, shocked… he begins to see it from their point of view. All their lives gradually shifting. Not giving up, but changing…

Is he going to give up?

"So," Robin says softly, "what did Sanji say Zoro? Think about it."

"But not too hard, you might fry your brain," Nami snaps, with an eye roll.

Zoro for his part, feels his traitorous heart start to beat with a tiny thrum of hope. He tries to battle it back, but his mind is swiftly whirling, as he considers what he and Sanji said this morning.

And he realizes… that they're right. How many times had Sanji told Zoro that he would never sleep with someone if he couldn't picture a life with them?. It was just that Sanji could imagine himself marrying any pretty women that came around and convinced himself that he was in love with them by the second date. It was why he was constantly heartbroken though. He truly felt like he loved them…

Zoro went over the encounter this morning quickly in his mind, desperately analyzing it for the moment that he was sure that Sanji had says something like I don't want you, I'm straight and this can never happen again…

But he hadn't said that had he?

He'd been saying something about this kind of sex… Zoro had assumed he meant gay sex (like he was sure most rational people would think) but could Sanji have been referring to casual sex…

Like the sex that Zoro always had and was known for…

Zoro couldn't believe it. Could Sanji have thought that Zoro wanted him for a quick fuck?!

Then he remembers what he said.

It was a pity fuck … and that it was a mistake. His words not Sanji's.

"Zoro," Robin says softly now, and Zoro turns back to her, heart thumping maddeningly. Could… could this be a misunderstanding…?

"Shit," he says, and his breath is again catching, but not with despair, but with rapidly growing hope and elation. It feels like a balloon is slowly filling him up.

Robin gives him a smile then, and its reflected around the others too.

"He's going to Sabaody Airport," She says. "You should hurry. His flight in is an hour."

"Take my car," Usopp says, and throws him the car keys. Zoro nods blurrily.

"This is so beautiful!" Franky basically cries, as Zoro leaps from his chair.

"Yeah go Zoro!" Chopper yells. Luffy laughs loudly. Nami gives him an eye roll and a punch on the shoulder.

"Use the GPS in Usopp's car," she tells him. "You don't want to get lost."

It's a real testament to how frazzled he feels that he doesn't fight her on the job. He merely nods at her.

"Go get your man bro!" Franky sobs.

Zoro races to the door, and the last thing he hears is from Brook.

"It's about time, I've wanted those two to get together form the moment I laid eyes on them."

But he has no time to respond or thank them all. He only hears the front door slam as he leaps the porch steps and reaches the car. He glances at his phone, ready to tap in the address for the airport into his GPS.

He stops though when he looks at the date.

Its November 10.

He laughs in amazement. There's no way… his birthday is tomorrow. Which means that this is only a few days off from when Sanji and him had both gotten drunk and made a stupid contract in a dorm room in college…

There might be time for one more detour, before he races to the airport.

After all, he has one stupid but special napkin to pick up from his desk drawer.