What the hell was that damn swordsman doing to him?! He's done little with beautiful women before, but never has he wanted to do to them what he wants to do to that swordsman. He wanted to do so many bad and dirty things to that man that he was thinking he'd need to bathe in holy water after they were done. The idea of doing anything like he craved with a woman seemed to be an incredible turn off. For one, he could never do that to a woman. For another, now all he craved was to watch Zoro come undone below him, screaming his name when he met his climax.
Or maybe have him gagged with that bandana of his to prevent anyone else from hearing the beautiful sounds he knew the man would make. Tied up across his table, hands and feet bound to the legs.
Shit. He needed to stop thinking about this. All these types of thoughts had only caused him to stay awake most of the night.
Stubbing his cigarette out on the railing, he gave the quickly fading stars above him one last glance before turning towards the kitchen in hopes of finding a way to calm himself, stressing over all that's been happening lately.
The only thing that stopped him was the loud thud coming from the crow's nest.
That was weird. Usopp was on watch for the early morning hours, so what could that have possibly been?
"Land ahead!" Usopp shouted, trying to wake the crew. "LAND!"
Soon, Luffy came shooting out from the men's quarters with a huge grin on his face with a tired doctor behind him. Nami showed up soon after, rubbing the sleep from her eyes.
"Ridiculous! You must be seeing things. There isn't supposed to be an island for another few days and I'm never wrong," she stated confidently with her arms crossed.
"Then what's that blob over there?" Chopper asked quietly, squinting at the distance, afraid of the consequences of proving Nami wrong.
"I'm telling you, it's an island. There's even a tower in the middle of it. See?" He held his contraption up to Nami's face so she could see the faraway island in the faint light of the rising sun. Surprise set in when she realized he was right. A tower sat in the middle of the island with a pink heart covered flag waving in the night breeze at the top of it. A weird feeling went through her at the sight of it.
This wasn't a normal island..
"From the looks of it, we'll reach it later in the morning. Guys, this place doesn't look right to me, so be on your guard. We know absolutely nothing about this place. Until then, just get some rest. We can't do much right now," she said and headed back towards her room, telling herself not to worry. Besides, this crew could handle anything that was thrown at them.
Half of the crew returned to their rooms. One exception being Luffy, choosing to stay at the front of the ship on Merry's head, waiting to reach the land they were approaching. The other two being Sanji and Zoro, the latter of which passed out on deck instead. Sanji began preparations for breakfast and the soon to be trip back onto land.
Each member stood at the edge of the ship after docking, staring out at this peculiar place. Even Luffy stopped for a moment and took in his surroundings for once before spotting a restaurant along the coast of the island and disappearing in search of as much food as he could find.
Nami screamed at him to wait, but the captain was long gone. Quickly, she followed, hoping to stop him before he got in trouble. This island was completely unknown to them. There could be Marines, despite the feminine and pink tint to.. well, almost everything on this island. This is a place where you would least expect to find them, making it a perfect base.
While they ran off, the others stayed in place, not knowing how to react. Fortunately, they didn't need to. Their screaming captain and navigator drew enough attention from every person in the vicinity, which seemed to be the entire edge of the town.
Even more fortunate for most of them, there wasn't a single male in sight.
Female eyes all turned to them, all brightening considerably with excitement and hollering greetings.
Taking this as a 'welcome to the island', the crew began to climb off of the ship, Chopper volunteering to stay behind for the time being. The smell seemed to be bothering him.
"What the hell kind of place is this?" Zoro asked groggily.
"Shut the fuck up. This place is obviously paradise. Do you not see all these beautiful ladies everywhere?" Sanji answered, swooning over the women milling about and their slightly transparent clothing. Most of the women seemed to be wearing gypsy looking outfits with the exception of the children and the elderly.
The cloth wrapped around them only covered their obviously voluptuous chests and another thin layer of cloth wrapped around their waists and dangling down one leg while the other side was cut extremely short. Each had their hair up in different styles with flowers and other hair accessories, some including feathers or beads.
Sanji got just as he'd hoped for as a fairly large group of girls flocked to all around him at his swooning. He began pouring out compliments and praising each woman.
"It's so rare to see men here! So, are you like, all pirates," a blonde asked nervously. Her hair was wavy and left to cascade down her back. Sanji hesitated for a moment, but saw no harm in it.
"Yes. We are pirates milady, but not the common type. We aren't like those other horrid pirates I'm sure your poor little ears have had to hear of," he said while running his finger along the shell of the lady's ear. "We get rid of the other pirates who enjoy pillaging and stealing." The blush across her face was satisfying enough for the cook. He continued to answer questions about being "vigilante pirates of the sea", but never lost sight of his surroundings.
Four women surrounded a blushing and flustered sharpshooter. Sanji could faintly hear the man telling them that he was taken by a gorgeous light blonde princess. Eventually, the five of them walked off, listening to Usopp ramble on and on about his future wife, commenting on how he was such a brave man to do the things he had for his wonderful Kaya.
Meanwhile, three women were gathered around Zoro, while he stood there stoically with an occasional raised eyebrow, arms crossed as they touched his biceps and exposed abs from the lack of a shirt. Sanji felt his blood boil for a moment, but put a lid on it fast. The lovely ladies deserved his attention, not the idiot. However, he couldn't ignore the way the swordsman just ignored the girls's affections.
"Pardon me for one moment ladies," he said. He got about twelve different variations of, 'of course', from the group. "Hey, idiot!" he shouted. Zoro looked up and growled at him, making him catch they eye of a few more women. "At least acknowledge the flowers trying to give you the attention that you don't deserve!"
"Actually, stupid cook, they asked me to flex for them," Zoro said, walking closer with that smug look on his face. "Besides, you know I'm gay. It's not like I need their affection anyway." After his statement, gasps were heard all around them and murmurs of, "Oh my god!" and "He likes men!". They seemed to be more excited than ever.
Immediately, the entire herd of women surrounded Zoro and more hands covered his tan skin as they asked him hundreds of questions about what it was like to be with another man as a man.
Sanji could only stand there with his mouth open, confused at what just happened and watching Zoro become flustered at some of the more graphic questions asked by the significantly shorter women around him.
Suddenly, a thin hand wrapped around Zoro's neck, pulling him down for an unexpected kiss and the others went quiet. His eyes widened as his lips met with a pretty brunette with shells in her hair. He pulled back once he realized what was happening and felt her tongue probing the inside of his mouth.
"What the hell was that for?" he bursted out.
"Since you're gay, does that mean that you didn't feel anything during that?" She sounded hopeful and almost a little too confident. They all waited in silence, including Sanji, anticipating a response. The unsettling feeling in the pit of his stomach worried him and the suspense of hearing Zoro's answer only made it worse. At first, he had been fuming with anger at this woman's nerve to kiss what was his, but was Zoro really his? After all, they weren't really dating. They just messed around with each other.
Like nakama with benefits.
"Aside from your tongue in my mouth? No," he said honestly. There was nothing. It didn't seem intimate or anything to him.
Faces contorted to different expressions and questions were spouted again. From what the cook could hear, most involved the women using Zoro as a personal make out toy to learn to kiss with a man better because they seemed to believe he knew all the tricks to coercing a man.
Another shy, short girl approached him, squeezing through the crowd. She didn't talk when she reached him, only pulling on his haramaki a bit to get his attention. It worked and everyone looked down at her when his line of sight shifted to her alone.
Zoro thought she was the most gorgeous of them all with perfectly braided pitch black hair and also, a good few inches shorter than even the other women, making her almost an entire foot shorter than Zoro and all the more adorable. She spoke quietly and no one heard.
"What was that?" Zoro asked, leaning closer to the girl to hear her, but staying cautious of her mouth.
"Can I kiss you too? Please? I've never had my first kiss before and I don't want it to be with another girl or a gross, ugly pirate," she said sheepishly, playing with the hem of her thin clothes. He stood up and hesitated for a moment. He glanced up at the cook, who was smoking and glaring at him angrily for some reason.
Probably for stealing all his precious swans away from him.
This girl seemed so harmless compared to the last girl. Hell, she had even asked first. He made up his mind, but before he could answer, the girl was pulled back, away from him by another girl.
"What are you doing here? He doesn't want to kiss someone like you. No one even wants you here." The girl yanked on her hair hard enough and the black haired girl fell to the ground, the braid coming undone, but a small white feather stayed. "Kissing you would make him gay for good. At least we have the chance of making him bisexual," the woman bit out angrily. Zoro realized that it was the cocky woman that had originally kissed him.
Caught up in his recent realization, he missed his chance to stop both females before the black haired girl was kicked, crawling away before finding her footing and ran off into the town. He lashed out at the brunette in his anger.
"That was completely unnecessary! What did she ever do to you?!" Zoro said, pointing in the direction the girl ran in. The yelling between the two dispersed their female crowd rather quickly.
"She existed. Nobody wanted her when she washed ashore in her stupid little crib except for that old hag. They should both just die already." The girl scoffed and turned her back to him.
To say he was royally pissed off was an understatement, but he refused to do anything to this girl. She was completely unarmed and just being a bitch. And he said it too. Right as he ran by her to chase after the black haired girl.
Sanji watched him go, smoking idly by as the anger and jealousy boiled inside him. The fucker just got kissed and ran right fucking by him, to chase after another stupid girl to go kiss her too! He was completely fucking ignored! No 'I'm sorry I let her kiss me' or no asking him if he can go fucking kiss another-
Wait.
Jealousy? Anger? Why should he be jealous or angry? Zoro isn't even his, dammit! And did he just called a woman 'stupid'?! What the fuck is that idiot doing to him?!
He stomped off angrily, hoping to find the fucker before he got lost on the damn island. Apparently, today was have-an-emotional-crisis day, so he really didn't need to spend more time looking for the one who has caused his crisis. These kind of situations always fucked with his head and he wanted it resolved as soon as possible. If it wasn't, these emotions would literally drive him insane.
His anger kept him going until he rounded a corner and found the hulking swordsman with his arms wrapped around the black haired girl as she cried on the steps of an old shop. He was rubbing her back soothingly with his big hands and the cook quietly crept forward. When he reached the stairs, he slid down on the opposite side of her and lit a cigarette.
Unfortunately, the girl hadn't noticed him until she heard the click of his lighter. Startled, she jumped and climbed into Zoro's lap, straddling and clinging to him for protection. He bit down on his cigarette butt, telling himself he's never yelled at a lady before and that she doesn't deserve it. She didn't know about the things that were going on between the two men.
She relaxed once she realized it was him, but when they made eye contact for a second, she flinched. The pain and anger seemed to show in his eye, making her more weary of him.
Slowly, she sat up in Zoro's lap, but kept her gaze towards his chest.
"I'm sorry for today. I didn't mean to cause any problems. I just-" She bit her lip and tears appeared in her eyes again. "I want to be accepted by them. I just wanted to be wanted somewhere," she finished as the tears ran down her face slowly.
"I know." Zoro lifted his hand up and tilted her head up, so their eyes met. "I've felt the same way." For a split second, his eyes slipped over to the cook, but were back to her soon enough. "But sometimes, it's good to be different. If I wasn't, I never would've found my crew. I was alone too until they came along. You just have to be stronger than their words. Sometimes even, it takes one time before that little bit of weirdness, attracts other people who feel similar and were too afraid to show it before." He nodded behind her and she looked over her shoulder. Two girls were standing by, looking incredibly awkward, waiting for their chance to talk to her. Sanji recognized the blonde from his group earlier.
With a sniffle and a wipe of her face, she stood up to face the other girls. One of the others spoke first.
"We just wanted to make sure you were okay. Brittany has never been fair to you and we never liked it, but we were afraid of what she'd do if we left to hang out with you. We thought we could.." Tears began to build up in her eyes. "We're so sorry. She made fun of you for so long, but most of us were too afraid of her to say anything. Today was just too much for us though. She's never taken things that far. We're sorry for following her around so long. It was definitely a mistake on our part.." By the end, the girl talking was crying with the blonde trying to comfort her, but nodding along with everything being said. The black haired girl's back was to the two pirates, but from the shake of her shoulders, she seemed to be crying again too.
Sanji stood up and walked up behind the girl with the feather in her hair. With the cigarette between his lips, he placed both hands on her shoulders.
"Ladies. Flowers such as yourselves shouldn't have a reason to cry. I think the best way to settle things like this is always to do it over some food. What do you think?" They all stood there, gathering themselves and wiping eyes before the girl who hadn't cried began to move her hands in a weird way. They all turned to watch her.
Some movements were stiff, but some were more like a wave of the hand or circles. Then, the girl beside her began to giggle.
"She said that food doesn't sound like a bad idea. She was getting hungry earlier. Then she added that the blonde one is pretty hot too." She giggled again. "And she wants to know if you've gotten to kiss the green beast yet." The women let out laughs at the girl's way of describing Zoro and Sanji wouldn't admit he chuckled a bit too.
The supposed 'green beast' looked confused, but didn't say anything. When the hell did she say all that? And what the fuck was she doing with her hands?! Some kind of spell casting sorcery? Zoro thought. Lost in thought, he hadn't notice the black haired girl come up to him again. She looked up at him with a curious look in her eyes before she giggled again.
"You back with us now? I was wondering if I.. could umm.. Get that kiss? You never said anything earlier." Zoro found her shyness actually somewhat adorable.
Without thinking much of it, he brought one hand up to her cheek and put one on her waist. Holding her lightly, he leaned down and gave her a slow kiss on the lips. No tongue was involved, but it was a fairly long and, from Sanji's point of view of it, sensual kiss.
He bit down on his filter, breaking it in half. How come Zoro never kissed him like that?! Angrily, he stomped out his cigarette before anyone noticed it fell and that he didn't drop it on purpose. The two pulled apart and Sanji chewed on the piece of filter in his mouth for a moment before deciding against it and pulled it out. Not having anywhere else to put it, he slid it into his pocket before picking up the crushed half and doing the same with it. He wasn't really much for littering, especially on an island like this.
The girl turned away from him, red faced and muttering a thank you before the three women walked away from them in the opposite direction.
Both stayed where they were in the awkward silence. Despite being outside, the air was filled with tension.
"Coo-"
"Oh my! What a lovely surprise! Two handsome young men on my doorstep! Oh, it's been decades since the last time this happened." Both men blushed at her insinuations and turned around.
An old woman with a cane was standing in the door of the shop.
"Pardon me, milady, but-"
"Come in for some tea. I heard what you did for my daughter. I wanted to thank you. She's always had a hard time making friends. Although, I knew it would happen eventually, I don't appreciate witnessing her first kiss through my shop window, young man." She glared at Zoro and smacked him in the back of the head.
"Ow! That hurt you old hag!" That earned him a kick from the cook.
"Don't talk to a lady like that, dumbass!" Zoro ignored him.
"I'm gay anyway. You don't have to worry about me. It's that dumb blonde you need to worry about," he said to the old woman.
"I am not some dumb blonde!" Sanji shouted back.
"I'm surprised you let the lettuce kiss my daughter," the lady cut in. "So, how long have the two of you been together?" They both looked at her like she was crazy, followed by blushing cheeks. Both pirates sputtered for a response, sometimes saying some half ass denials, making the lady chuckle. "Oh. I see. This must be why you're here then."
"What do you mean?" Sanji asked.
"Come in and have some tea with this old lady and I'll tell you all about it sweetheart. It's been so long since I've been able to sit down and have tea with visitors." She smiled sweetly before hobbling back into the house. Without much choice left, they followed her.
The shop was dusty and each object she was trying to sell seemed to be covered in a layer of dust. They followed her to the back of the shop and through a beaded archway. On the other side, it opened up to a surprisingly clean and lush dining room with a small kitchen nearby. Multiple doors were nearby, presumably the other rooms. One door was a sliding glass and you could see the woman's beautiful back yard full of flowers, stone pathways and a small pond. Sanji assumed all of it had been her daughter's doing.
When they crossed into the kitchen, the lady began to try and prepare the tea, shifting her cane back and forth between hands, before Sanji stepped in and took it from her.
"Allow me, miss..?"
"Harvey."
"Well miss Harvey , I am a cook after all. It's my job not to let pretty ladies do much work, especially in the kitchen."
"Ahaha. Oh, what a dear you are." She turned to face Zoro before saying, "You've got a good one here. Don't let him go." Zoro blushed, but nodded as Sanji pretended to have not heard what she'd said as he went about preparing the tea.
Miss Harvey sat down at the dining table with a sigh of relief, propping her cane against it. Zoro soon followed. When the water was in the kettle to boil, Sanji joined them too.
"So, I take it you are wanting to hear about this place?" They nodded together. "I'm surprised no one has told you yet. No one can find our island. It's impossible."
"Then how ar-" Zoro began.
"So impatient boy." He rolled his eyes. She seemed to have a thing for cutting people off. "We find you." Confusion was written all over their faces, making her laugh a little. "Our island is commonly known as Not Your Lover's Paradise. I believe it was a nickname made a while back and just stuck I suppose. It's because we aren't found unless we want to be found. It's also why we aren't on any maps. Our island appears to be in places that it is not in order to keep us hidden. There is an air that surrounds the island that does this. It is also how we know when we are needed. It is said that a goddess gave up her life and left part of her soul behind that infused with the air around us, forming the protecting circle, but no one really knows for sure. So, when ships come by, we may or may not be shown to them. If we are, we can see the ships too."
"I'm confused. How does this have to do with how the island got it's name?" Zoro asked.
"Because. That was why we began to help others in need aboard ships. Mostly, crewmates who were having love troubles would end up here. This is where they'd figure it out. Some were men and woman. Sometimes the woman wanted to get out of their relationship, so in the end, they'd stay here. Some relations were repairable. We've had all sorts of outcomes. That is why it is called Not Your Lover's Paradise. An island full of beautiful women and it is pointless to one person. Most men would think it is paradise, but the one it matters to, the one person whose relationship brought them here, it doesn't because this place helps them either see that their lover is all that they need or that they aren't. Few have taken advantage of women here and cheated on their lovers, but it has happened before." Zoro glanced at Sanji, who had gotten up to finish making the tea.
Few men have cheated, but they aren't technically together. And he had called this paradise before he'd even stepped foot on the island.. Does that mean Sanji was finally going to realize that he didn't want Zoro? His hands clenched his pants. He'd just gotten a taste of what the cook could do and now he would be forced to let him go.
All his reactions didn't go unnoticed by the old woman.
"Son, would you mind coming over here to sit closer to me? I would like to speak to you in private, but I don't feel right asking your friend to leave the room." He did as he was asked without hesitation. He was actually starting to like this woman.
When he sat next to her, she was able to lean in and whisper to him. "Don't worry. I'll be quiet and brief. I just would like to know some things. You love him, don't you?" He flinched, but nodded slowly. Of course she could tell. "And does he love you?"
At her question, he stared at his knees sadly at the reminder that Sanji would soon enough cheat on whatever they had with some random girl from this place. She pulled him down so his head was resting on her shoulder and pet his head in a way that was more than comforting.
Sanji sat down two cups of tea in front of them, wondering what was going on. He thought he'd seen Zoro nod and that was it. Now, he was being held like a child who never got enough love growing up and needed some comforting. What the hell did he miss?
"Sweetheart, you should have more faith in him," she said, throwing her own glance at the cook with the flash of a smile.
Zoro sat up and began to sip his tea, effectively burning his tongue, when he heard Sanji sit down at the table again.
"Is there anything else you would like to know about this place?" She asked sweetly, wrapping her wrinkly hands around the cup.
The chef side of Sanji kicked in. "Can you tell me honestly how the prices of food is? I hope things aren't too expensive, but I assume that being confined to this island, that resources are hard to come by."
"On the contrary, everything is free here." Sanji almost dropped his cup in surprise.
"What?"
"Yep," she affirmed. "We do things the old fashioned way, paying each other back with favors and helping one another out. And just because we are women does not mean we don't know how to use and preserve our resources. In actuality, our island is fairly large. We have farms everywhere and make everything ourselves. Those who find our island are free to take what they like, as long as they aren't savages. We've had a few run ins with some terrible pirates, but the women here also know how to fight. My daughter wields a sword in battle." Zoro perked up at this. "Not many women here do, but she loves it. That's actually where some have come from. They find this island because women are kept as sex slaves on the ships and they stay here. We all fight for their lives and to rescue them. It's no way for a female to live. Or any person for that matter."
Together, they all sipped at their tea in relative silence, trying to think of more questions.
"Can I ask you something personal?" Zoro asked quietly.
"Of course," she answered.
"Why do the other girls dislike your daughter? I just don't understand. She's beautiful and sweet and.." He trailed off, not knowing what else to say.
For a moment, he thought he crossed a line because she gazed into her cup longingly.
"She wasn't born here. When she was only about 2 months old, she washed up onto the beach in a small basket. Everyone was excited at first, thinking she was sent from the goddess protecting the island. As she got older, she became interested in different things that the other girls were interested in. They thought she was weird for it, so she stopped and tried her best to be like them. Then, her hair started to change. The black scared people and they called her weird anyway and said she was a demon in a human girl's body to trick people with her sweetness. They've all hated her since, treating her like dirt, but she always smiled, always tried harder to have just one friend," she said. "Well, I hope things go well with her and those other two. None have ever done that before. It really is a miracle." She smiled sweetly and thanked Zoro under her breath.
The silence fell once again as they each finished the last of their tea and Sanji stood up.
"Miss Harvey, this has been a lovely evening and I wouldn't want you to waste the rest of your precious time on us, especially on this brute," he said, gesturing to Zoro. He picked up the cups, taking them back to the kitchen to clean them as he talked. "How long does it take for the log pose to set here? Or do you know if it will set us off course?"
"Oh! Of course! The log pose doesn't set here. Because this island technically doesn't exist, the log pose shouldn't change. Think of this island as between the balance of two dimensions. We don't exist in this one, but we can if it is needed. So, your pose should still take you to the island you were headed to before you stopped here."
"Incredible," Zoro mumbled. Sanji had to agree with him, but not out loud. This place was certainly unique.
"Yes. You all must have things to do. I'm sorry for taking up your time. Thank you for humoring an old woman." She stood and led them to the door.
"There is no need to thank us. It was our pleasure to be in the company of such a beautiful woman," Sanji said as he kissed the back of her hand and Zoro stood outside the shop, rolling his eyes. He released her delicate hand and began down the steps until he felt something on his arm. Turning around, he saw miss Harvey's hand.
"Son, I want you to know something. I missed my chance to have something good years ago. I sure hope you don't miss yours too." With that, she turned around and disappeared back into the shop, leaving a stunned cook on her doorstep.
An impatient swordsman stood in the dirt road, hollering at said cook, but Sanji couldn't hear him. The woman's words were still sinking in. Eventually, he finally understood what she meant. By the time he did though, the marimo was standing in front of him, waving his hand in the cook's face.
"What the hell cook? What was that about? Nevermind. Let's just go. We should probably let that witch know what we found out about this place," he said before turning away and heading down the dirt road.
"No. We have somewhere to be," Sanji said and grabbed Zoro's hand, pulling him down the road so quickly that Zoro almost tripped a few times.
"What? Where, ero-cook?! You're not making any sense!" Zoro shouted. Seriously. What the hell was going on with the stupid cook?
"A hotel, idiot."
A/N - So! This chapter is definitely longer than my others. Sorry, not sorry xD From your reviews on the last chapter, I was told that you wanted to see them confess their feelings. WELL, that made me realize, I hadn't had Sanji realize his feelings yet. SO, this is what I ended up with xD lol
SunnyDe - Hope you liked it! XD
Pajamaz - I'm sorry! The talk will be soon. I promise!
Guest - Thank you for the wonderful idea! The author's note is pretty much dedicated to you too lol if you hadn't noticed.
Valent - Thank you! I hope you read more xD