Sanji is nervous. Zoro had texted him about the date, not what they were doing just to be there before dinner. Perona volunteered to baby sit this time and would make them dinner. This time it was the weekend so if Sanji wanted to he could take Luane home if he wanted to but just in case they packed her some over night clothes.
Sanji was instructed to wear something casual or old. Something he wouldn't mind getting dirty but also really comfortable. So he wore some jeans, converse and a blue t-shirt with wavy lines that went horizontal on the shirt. On top of that he wore a black leather jacket, another request from Zoro.
Sanji walked Luane up the path to the door, the sun still shining. He rang the doorbell and they waited for few second before the door is opened. Sanji stood there shocked as Perona is the one that opened the door. He thought it would have been Zoro, like last time. She smiled at them.
"Come on in." She stands to the side. Luane runs in like last time but Sanji just stands by the door. "Sanji's here!" Perona shouts.
"I'll be right there!" Zoro shouts back. She gives Sanji a smile.
"Just wait a second." Perona says then leaves the cook standing there waiting.
"Are you ready?" Zoro pokes his head from around the corner.
"I think." Sanji looks at himself. He looks up to see that Zoro also wore some casual clothes. He couldn't see his shirt because of the leather jacket but he wore some jeans that in Sanji's opinion seemed tight.
"Hold this." Zoro hands the cook a backpack, Sanji looked at it as it weight a ton. What were they doing? Knowing Zoro it's probably crazy. Zoro sat down and tied his boots on. He looks at Zoro with a smile. "Did you come in the car?" He asks. This was a different mood than before. He almost seemed excited. Where ever they are going it seems Zoro likes it. Sanji didn't know how to feel about that? Is this how Zoro felt? He didn't seem excited because he didn't know where they were going and he was dressed in a way he normally isn't. Is this karma at work?
"Yeah." He says.
"Where did you park?"
"On the street. Is that ok?"
"Yeah, that's fine. Come on." Zoro stands up and opens the door. "We're leaving!" He yells.
"Enjoy your date." Perona yells along with Arin and Luane, Lili just babbled. Zoro closes the door behind Sanji.
Sanji follows Zoro to his bike he just notice is there. Zoro looks at him, "put the backpack on."
"But it's yours."
"It'll be awkward for me to be wearing it." Zoro says he picks up a black helmet. He puts it on Sanji as the cook put the backpack on. Sanji stood there a little shocked. He's never had a motorcycle helmet on before. He watches as Zoro sits on the seat and puts on his own helmet, green but the front is decorated to look like a mix of shark teeth with a face of a green tiger to match his motorcycle. "Come on." Zoro says, the cook could hear the smile that might be on his face. Zoro pats the back of his seat, enough space for another person.
Sanji follows what he's told, he awkwardly get on. "I've never been on a motorcycle before." He tells the marimo.
"I figured. This will be fun then." Zoro says as he puts on his gloves. Zoro looks behind him to Sanji. "Hold on tight." Zoro says. Sanji just nods. Slowly he wraps his arms around Zoro's waist.
One point to Zoro's date. Already it's better but that doesn't make the cook feels any better. He's never really done anything out of his comfort zone.
So when Zoro quickly turns around and starts driving Sanji couldn't help but hold onto Zoro tighter and scream in surprise. Zoro just laughed. That's anyone reaction to that.
"It's not funny you bastard." Sanji yelled as they speed down the moderately empty street.
Another point for making Zoro laugh.
"It is. I've never heard you scream before." Zoro says before laughing again.
"You actually like this?" Sanji asks.
"Yeah, it's better without the helmet. Feeling the wind hit your face, going fast past cars. It's an amazing feeling. But riding without a helmet is illegal so can't do that anymore."
"Then how do you know?"
"We were delinquents in middle and high school, none of us were following the rules. You need to relax, nothing is going to happen."
"Sorry but I think that will take some time." Sanji says he hasn't even open his eyes yet and he's merged his body with Zoro's as much as he can.
"You'll get use to it. The ride to the place in mind will take some time." Zoro answers.
It really is a long ride and Sanji did get use to it. He started by opening his eyes then he let go of Zoro a little bit. It was really different than driving in a car. It was more free.
Soon Sanji found himself enjoying it. It's like nothing else he seen or experienced before. Sanji couldn't help but stare at the scenery they went past. There were so many color going by that he couldn't focus on all of it but it felt like looking at a collage of color. If Zoro hadn't done this right here and now Sanji would have never known about how amazing it is to ride a motorcycle.
Sanji noticed that they stopped going on a road, it wasn't even a dirt road. Sanji had to wonder where Sanji was taking him. He got distracted by the pretty colors and scenes they past that he forgot that they were even going somewhere.
"Where are we going?" Sanji asks as they go further into the forest. They were really far out from civilization.
"We're almost there." Zoro answers. Sanji doesn't ask anymore questions. If they are almost there he'll see. Sanji looks around. They started going really slow. Zoro stops abruptly, the cook accidentally smacks his helmet against the back of Zoro's, creating a low thud sound. "We're here." Zoro says. Sanji gets off first then Zoro puts the bike stand up so the motorcycle doesn't fall over. Zoro takes off his helmet and then so does Sanji. He had forgotten that his head was compressed in a helmet. He rest his helmet on the seat as he took off his leather jacket to reveal a white muscle shirt, which doesn't shock the cook at all. What does is that Zoro has his badge around his neck. He folds his jacket and rest it along with his gloves. He looks at Sanji still standing there. "You could take off your jacket too, if you want to." He says. Sanji nods, he hands over the helmet and Zoro takes it. Sanji then hand over the backpack over to the marimo who puts it on.
"Wait, then why am I wearing it?" Sanji asks.
"Safety." Zoro says. Sanji gives him a look. Zoro just smiles. "Most people think it's because it looks cool but it's actually very protective. If someone were to fall off their motorcycle it wouldn't cause them that much bodily harm. Of course it's not a metal plate of armor so it won't protect you against those very serious accidents but it's better than nothing." Zoro explains as the cook takes his jacket off. He sets it down with Zoro's.
"Now what?" Sanji asks. He blushes when Zoro takes his hand. He leads them further into the forest. Sanji could hear the ocean, which confused him until they broke through some trees and he saw the ocean. They were at a cliff side. "Woah." Sanji couldn't help but say that. He didn't know this was here.
"Come on." Zoro pulls him again leading him down the cliff till they reached a path way down. Zoro lets go Sanji and goes down the rocky path way, slowly and carefully. The blonde follows just as cautious as Zoro. As soon as Zoro reached the sandy bottom he ran of towards the beach. Sanji looked around at the area the beach is in. It's crescent shaped the path way was near the tip of one side. Zoro ran to the center with Sanji following. He watched as Zoro set the backpack down gently. Sanji paused when the marimo started taking off his shoes.
"What are you doing?" Sanji asks.
"Going in to the water." Zoro says throwing his boots aside. He runs into the water and starts playing. Sanji takes his shoes off, setting them neatly next to the backpack. He watches Zoro while he stands there. "Come in." Zoro says from where he stands.
"It's the middle autumn." Sanji points out. Zoro walks to him back on shore. Sanji blush as he saw Zoro's skin from his wet white shirt.
"Yeah, I know that's why I brought us here." Zoro says. He picks up Sanji and the cook squirms trying to get down.
"That doesn't make sense." Sanji says trying to get out of Zoro's arms.
"It will when you get in the water." Zoro says stopping. He looks up at Sanji who looks down at him.
"Please don't." he says softly. He wouldn't want to get sick from going into the ocean in the middle of autumn. Zoro smiles, the blonde doesn't blush this time. Zoro lets go and Sanji falls screaming. Zoro laughs.
"Wait." Sanji stops and looks down at the water. "It's warm." He points out.
"I know. No matter how cold it is it's always warm." Sanji stands up and pushes Zoro making him fall in the water.
"Basterd, you could have told me instead of dropping me in." Sanji frowns at his date.
"Where's the fun in that?" Zoro smiles up at Sanji.
Sanji and Zoro played in the water like children. Another point for fun. He knew he shouldn't think about it but why did he think being at a fancy restaurant in cramped clothes would be a good date? This is so much more fun. The cook has been upset for a while that he hasn't smiled in a while. It was refreshing to goof off for no reason. To just have fun.
They started to get hungry so they went back to shore. Zoro opened the backpack and hand the blonde a towel, then taking one out for himself. Zoro dried himself off a little before going back to the backpack and taking out a big bento box. They set the towel down on the sand then sat down on it. There were four layers, two each.
Sanji looked at the bento box, "did you make this?" Sanji asks, it's rather impressive. Sanji grabs the chocsticks and grabs a rolled omelette piece. He's been teaching Zoro western dishes and meals but not bentos. He tastes it. "It's really good. Where'd you learn to make this?"
"I found some book for it and while getting the house ready I practiced." Zoro smiles digging into his own bento.
"So you've been practicing." Sanji says.
"Even if you teach me I still need to practice." Zoro says. "Oh, the sun is setting." Zoro look towards the horizon. Sanji does too, it's another things to be amazed by. Instead of the usual orange sunset it's purple.
"Whoa, how did you find this place?" Sanji asks relaxing.
"I was wondering around."
"You mean you got lost."
"Not really, I didn't have a place in mind when I found this place."
"So is this your secret hideout?"
"Yeah, only one person know about this place, well with you that's two." Zoro says.
"W-who?" Sanji sutters, he thinks he knows.
"Pops." Okay, not who he thought.
"How did that happen?"
"After we were adopted I was still feeling like he didn't want me and would sent me back so I ran away. The first time just ran and ended up here. So then this place became my gateway. It was before I met Luffy, I was having a hard day at school, I heard some pretty bad things that day and ran here."
"What happened next."
"I stayed here for a couple weeks. If no one wanted me then I'd rather just live by myself but I was a child so I didn't have many option. I came here to live."
"How?" Sanji asks looking at Zoro shocked. He followed where Zoro was pointing and saw a tent. It was a little run down but it was still up. "You lived there?" Sanji gets up and goes to it.
"Yeah."
"What next?" Sanji asks, as he looked at the tent. There were some blankets and pillows, in the other corner there were plates. In another corner corner there was something else, it seems to be folded up.
"I stayed here for a couple weeks, during that time pops went searching for me. He found me here. He was usually expressionless but he looked relieved to see me. He sat down with me as we ate the fish I caught. It was silent at first but then we started talking. He reassured that he wasn't going to give me or Perona up. After a while I went home with, Perona was glad to see us, she also seemed worried."
"All well that ends well." Sanji says.
"Oh it's almost time. We should get back on my bike."
"There's more?"
"Yup."
"You're not going to tell me are you?"
"Nope." Zoro shakes his head. He and Sanji pack up the bento put the towels into a reusable travel hamper bag. Then they put their shoes on and head up the path to the motorcycle. They put their jackets on then their helmets. Zoro handed the backpack to Sanji.
Sanji sat back behind Zoro. He did the sharp turn again but this time Sanji didn't scream. "Woah!" Sanji shouted surprised as he hold onto Zoro so he doesn't fall.
"That's boring, I thought you would scream like a girl again." Zoro says. Sanji smacked his back.
They drove off some more, the sky turning black.
"Where are we going now?"
"We're almost there, just in time too." He sees Zoro look at his wrist, as he didn't notice there was a watch there.
"In time for what?"
"Just look up."
"Look up at what?" Sanji looks at the sky and not a second after he asks did he hear the sound of something exploding them a big explosion of color. Fireworks. The road they went down lit up with fireworks.
It was like a personal show just Sanji and what was more amazing was being so close and in the middle of it all. He couldn't stop looking at everything.
Sadly not everything last forever. Sanji had to turn around behind them to continue watching the fireworks but then they stop. Sanji faces forward. He'll never forget that. "What was that?" Sanji had to asks.
"There's a small village near by, they have a festival on this day every year with fireworks. I thought you would enjoy it. It's a really pretty sight." Zoro explains.
"So where are we going now?"
"To the village. Hope you're ready for dessert. They are going to be selling really good desserts. I think you'll like them." Zoro says. Sanji was shocked. He wasn't trying to impress anyone. He's thinking about the cook and his interest.
Like Zoro said they made it to the village. He was right, they had so many original desserts that Sanji had to try them all. He even saw Zoro eating some, the marimo explaining that it's not sweet and really good. Sanji had some and was shocked. It wasn't sweet at all.
After that Zoro taught Sanji how to drive a motorcycle. It was on an empty street with enough street lights so they weren't in the pitch darkness. Zoro laughed a lot. Sanji couldn't do it, he was to nervous especially when Zoro had his arms around the blondes waist. Sanji couldn't get use to is but it was fun.
After that they found an empty grass field. They took their shoes off and started walking through it as they talked about everything and nothing.
It wasn't what most people would call a perfect date but it was fun. Sanji found himself laughing, dancing with Zoro at the festival, saw amazing fireworks, talked to Zoro and get to know him, Zoro getting to know about him in return, they lay in the grass and watched the stars. The date was them.
Zoro sat up from laughing. He saw the horizon and his eyes went wide. He stood up quickly.
Sanji looks at him. "What wrong?"
"The sun is rising." Zoro says grabbing his shoes.
"What?" Sanji sits up and true to what he said, there the sun is rising, with a magnificent peach glow. They both scrambled to put their shoes on and ran to the bike.
As they rode back home Sanji asked, "could we go on a date again?"
"I would like that." Zoro says. He had fun. Just maybe he felt his heart skip a beat.
"But this time I'm planning it."
"Then it's your turn." Zoro says with a smile that Sanji couldn't see but Zoro also couldn't see Sanji's smile.