After their battle with Gecko Moria and nearly losing four of their friends, the Straw Hats thought they were finally going to catch a break from their long and intense battle but it seemed they were far from being done with their battle. While they were all trying to catch their breath, Nami had remembered that there was in fact another foe on what remained of Thriller Bark, one she hadn't been able to warn the others about because they had been dealing with Ores and Moria. As she had started to explain that there was in fact another Warlord on the island, her eyes had grown wide with fear and her words no longer wished to leave her mouth. Her eyes were instead focused on the top of the tower that was still lying on top of an unconscious Moria.

"No one must know what happened on Thriller Bark. Destroy everything so that nothing remains and speak of this incident to no one." A voice spoke from what looked like Transponder Snail, which was resting in the palm of a man who stood as tall as Moria, Bartholomew Kuma. Upon hearing his orders, the tall man slowly turned his attention to the beaten down Straw Hats as he put away the small snail.

"I-it's him… One of the Seven Warlords…" Nami's soft voice finally managed to speak out as she stared toward the man she had encountered on the Sunny. None of them were in any condition to deal with this man. They were barely standing as it was and Luffy was still completely unconscious. They were really screwed…them and everyone they had saved.

"Dammit…we can't deal with this guy right now…" Sanji growled out as he glared toward Kuma and clenched his jaw tightly.

"You guys just stay back…" Zoro suddenly spoke out as he slowly made his way to the front of their remaining crew with his swords drawn. "I'll handle this…"

"Be careful, Zoro… He can make someone disappear without even touching them… I saw it when I first encountered him on the Sunny…and he can instantly move from one place to another" Nami warned, but Zoro didn't seem to hear her. Instead his focus was strictly on the man standing on top of the rubble. While watching him carefully, Kuma slowly started to remove the gloves on his hands while Zoro's grasp on his sword tightened slightly. In an instant, Kuma disappeared and was suddenly standing on the ground with them, towering over everyone else.

"W-when did he…!? He's huge!" One of the other pirates shouted out as they all stared toward Kuma with horrified looks on their faces. Despite them being scared, they still held tightly to their swords and were ready for a fight…until Kuma suddenly brought one of his large hands forward and sent a small group flying without even touching them. Once they were knocked to the ground, the Warlord disappeared again, only to reappear in front of the group once more.

"I'll start with you…" Kuma spoke toward Zoro, who didn't seem phased by it. Instead he continued to stand his ground despite being battered and beaten.

"You heard him…he's after me… Get going." Zoro spoke lowly without moving from the place he stood. Sure this was insane, but if he could buy the others time to get away, then he was fine with that. While continuing to stand his ground, Zoro now had a grasp on two of his swords and got into his stance. "Rashoumon!" He suddenly shouted out before making his first move. Sure the green haired swordsman was fast, but Kuma moved quicker. Zoro's blades sliced through the rocks that had been behind Kuma instead of actually hitting the man himself. However, Kuma was quick to strike back, towering over Zoro as he tried to crush the man with the palm of his hand, but luckily Zoro had moved out of the way quickly. For a moment, they continued to exchange attacks, Zoro mostly having to dodge to avoid getting hit by weird paw shaped things. However, he almost hadn't moved fast enough and one of the attacks ended up grazing his head, yet he still stood. They hadn't even been fighting for very long but Zoro was already panting hard, however that didn't mean he was ready to give up the fight yet. Clenching his teeth tightly, he got himself into another stance to launch his second attack.

"Thirty-six caliber…phoenix!" The green haired man shouted out loudly before sending his attack flying toward Kuma. However, the man stood still, completely unphased by the attack that was coming directly at him. At the last second, he lifted his hand and deflected the attack with ease, redirecting it to the side where it crashed into some rubble and sent people flying again.

"How the heck did he just deflect Zoro's attack like that!?" Chopper asked with a terrified expression on his face. Moments after that question was asked, Kuma slowly lifted his hands, revealing that he actually had…paw-pads?

"I ate the Paw-Paw fruit and became a paw-palmed man." Kuma replied in a simple tone. It sounded ridiculous, and he said it with such a straight face.

"I seriously think we're overestimating this guy…if his power is seriously kitten paws, he can't be that dangerous, right?" Franky asked while rubbing his for the cyborg, the moment he asked that question, he was suddenly hit right in the chest and taken to the ground, causing the others to panic. It shouldn't have been that easy to take Franky down but this guy had done it without even touching him. Just how strong was this guy!?

After that attack, Kuma went on the offensive once more. He sent paw shaped balls of air flying toward Zoro, who somehow managed to dodge them. As the swordsman went to strike another attack, his swords bounced off the paw-pads they came into contact with, sending him flying back slightly. Kuma was definitely fast and it was near impossible to keep an eye on him once he moved. By the time Zoro had been thrown into the rubble once more, he was on his knees, panting hard with blood running down his face. He could barely stand, but he wasn't willing to give up the fight so easily. While still on his knees, Kuma suddenly appeared right by Zoro again. The man was nearly passed out, but he still kept a tight grasp on his swords. As he continued to kneel, he suddenly heard a familiar, and rather irritating voice coming from above.

"That's as far as you go!" Sanji suddenly shouted out as he flipped through the air and landed one of his powerful kicks on Kuma's face.

"Dammit cook- Mind your own damn-" Zoro had started to speak, but when he noticed a pained look on the blond's face, his eyes widened slightly. What the hell just happened? Sanji had kicked several things that should have damaged his legs in the past so why was he in so much pain from kicking Kuma right in the face!? As he watched Sanji fall to the ground while holding his leg tightly, Zoro's grasp on his sword tightened once again. That kick…it hadn't even made Kuma flinch. What the hell was this guy made of!?

After several moments, both Zoro and Sanji were now beside each other. Both of them were panting hard and suffering in pain, but neither of them seemed ready to give in. This guy wanted to eliminate all of them after all, but neither planned on making that an easy task for this man. While Sanji continued to hold his injured leg, Zoro's grasp on his blades didn't loosen once. There had to be something they could do…there had to be some way they could defeat this guy and get off of Thriller Bark. As they continued to think of something, Kuma suddenly lifted his hands and slowly started to compress the air around them. As the exhausted pirates watched in horror, Kuma soon held a small paw shaped ball in his hands that was full of compressed air. The moment he released it, it would completely annihilate Thriller Bark and everyone on it. After several more moments of silence, Kuma finally spoke again.

"I want Straw Hat Luffy's head. As long as they have him, they won't mind if I spare the rest of you. Hand him over…or I'll destroy you all." Kuma said as he stared toward the pirates. He was giving the rest of them an option to live as long as they handed over their captain. He thought they would surely do that in order to live, but instead he was met with something else.

"FORGET IT!"

None of the Straw Hats intended on just handing Luffy over to the government like that. It was clear that they would all rather die than betray their captain and their friend. Even those who Luffy had saved sided with the Straw Hats and refused to hand over the unconscious man, so it left Kuma with no choice. "Such a shame, really…" Though he didn't sound like it was really a shame. To him, it didn't matter either way. Upon hearing their answer, Kuma opened his hands and sent the compressed air flying toward the center of the group. "Ursus Shock."

After the dust had cleared from the explosion, Kuma glanced around, seeing that everyone seemed to be knocked completely out or dead. Without a word, the Warlord slowly made his way over to where Luffy was still laying, causing the ground to shake underneath him. Regardless of what happened here, he planned on taking Luffy back to headquarters with him so they could ensure that he was finished. Just as he started to reach down to take Luffy off the ground, a shadow figure suddenly moved and sliced right through Kuma's shoulder. Zoro was still alive and still willing to fight to keep Luffy from being taken away. As he landed on the ground and glanced back toward Kuma, his eyes widened once he saw where his sword had hit. Kuma's shoulder…it was more of a bionic arm… Was he a cyborg like Franky!? Zoro had no time to ask because while he had been processing what he was seeing, Kuma went to make another move, this time sending a deadly blast straight at Zoro from his mouth, but luckily the swordsman had just barely gotten out of the way in time.

"I am what's called a Pacifista. I was developed by the government's genius scientist; Dr. Vegapunk."

So that's what this guy was…Zoro knew he had no chance of defeating Kuma, especially not when he was already so beaten down. There had to be something…anything he could do to get this guy to not take Luffy's head…even if it meant doing something drastic, something that would definitely cause a certain cook to call him a moran, but that was fine. He was deciding to do this to protect Luffy and the others. He didn't see any other way out of this, so as he sat there with his legs crossed, he slowly lifted his head to look up at Kuma.

"What if…I let you take my head in his place… I've got a high bounty myself…and I'm sure the government would love to get their hands on me…" Zoro panted out. Such a statement seemed to surprise Kumo slightly. He hadn't expected Zoro to offer his own life in place of Luffy's.

"You have such ambition… Do you honestly want to give up your life just to save his?" Kuma asked.

"Luffy is the man who will become King of the Pirates! And I would gladly give up my life so he can go on and make his dream a reality!" Zoro declared with a determined look on his face. 'I'm sorry, Sanji, Luffy…and everyone else…' He thought to himself, knowing this was a completely idiotic move, but it was one that was going to be well worth it in the end.

"Hold it right there…" Another voice suddenly called out. Again…it was that familiar and annoying voice that really irritated the hell out of Zoro. How the hell was this guy even able to still stand up? He looked as if he would fall over at any second as he slowly came over to stand between Kuma and Zoro with his hands tucked away in his pockets. "Forget about this idiot…take my life instead. Black-leg Sanji!"

Zoro couldn't believe what he was seeing. Sanji was really standing in front of him, shaking like crazy and offering up his own life as if it were nothing at all. No…Zoro couldn't allow him to do that for several reasons. One..Sanji was their cook and the only one who could actually get Luffy to eat his fill and two…well Zoro didn't really want to think about the second reason because he honestly didn't understand it himself. He wasn't good with feelings, but he knew that if he let Sanji die in his place he would never be able to live with himself. Despite the fact that they fought all the time, this blond idiot was someone Zoro cared about way more than anyone else. He wasn't going to just sit here and allow such a thing to happen.

"What are…you waiting for…? Get it over with already…" Sanji's voice had once again pulled Zoro from his thoughts. Dammit, he had to move quickly before it was too late. "Say goodbye to everyone for me, moss-head…"

That was it. Zoro had finally decided to move before Sanji ended up throwing his life away. Using the back of his sword, the green haired male hit Sanji hard in the side so he could knock him out. Seeming surprised by the sudden impact, Sanji let out a surprised gasp and looked toward Zoro while struggling even more to stand. Why the hell had he done that!? What was wrong with him!? "H-hey…what the…hell man…?" Sanji gasped out as he stumbled forward and grasped onto Zoro's shoulder tightly. His legs were getting weaker by the second, but he didn't want to pass out without knowing why Zoro had done this to him.

"You idiot…you can't be the one who dies… You're the cook after all…and that's someone who is way more important than some simple swordsman…" Zoro spoke lowly as he watched Sanji fall to his knees in pain. The hand that had been on his shoulder slowly slid down his arm and was now holding tightly to his wrist, much tighter than it should be. It pained the swordsman to do such a thing to Sanji when he was already injured but this was the only way, so he could deal with it. Sighing quietly, Zoro placed his other hand over the hand that was grasping his wrist. The motion seemed to surprise Sanji, but he didn't say anything. "If I let you die for me…I'll never be able to live with myself…so live and protect the others… I'm sorry…"

The moment those last words left Zoro's lips, Sanji finally lost consciousness and passed out at the swordsman's feet. It was better this way and nothing was going to change his mind. There was one thing he regretted though, and that was that he wouldn't get to tell Sanji how he actually felt, not that those feelings would ever be returned, so it wasn't that much of a loss. Sighing softly, Zoro turned his attention back to Kuma. "Take my life, and leave the rest of the Straw Hats be. Give me your word that you will do that…"

"Very well. If you intend on taking Straw Hat Luffy's place then you must take his pain." Kuma said as he walked over to where Luffy was still laying. Reaching down, he lifted the unconscious man up, clearly alerting Zoro. "I will not take his head, I give you my word on that. You must trust in what I'm going to do." He said as he placed his free hand against Luffy's chest. After a few moments, a rather large paw, this time shaded in red, was floating in front of Zoro and Kuma was placing Luffy back on the ground. "I've extracted all of the pain he suffered in his battle with Moria. If you truly intend to take his place, you must take his pain. Not only will you suffer in utter agony, but this will undoubtedly kill you. Here…why don't you have a taste of his pain." After saying that, Kuma sent a small portion of the huge paw toward Zoro. That small amount entered his chest, and intense pain instantly filled Zoro's body, causing him to scream out in agony until he crashed to the ground, face first. "Do you still want it?"

"J-just let me…pick the location…" Zoro finally coughed out after taking a moment to regain himself. That pain…if that small amount had been enough to knock him down like that then…that huge ball would definitely kill him so he wanted to be somewhere away from the others when it happened.

Soon, Zoro found himself standing in the location he chose with his arms at his sides. He was staring the ball of pain down with a determined look on his face. This was it…this was where he would die, but at least he could die knowing he saved everyone from Kuma. That was enough for him…but there was one person he still couldn't get out of his head. "I'm sorry, Sanji… It's not how I wanted it to end but…I know you'll watch out for everyone." He spoke those words softly to himself before taking a breath. It was time. "This is for you…and everyone else…" He then stepped forward and shoved his arms into the ball filled with Luffy's pain.

Sanji didn't know how long he had been unconscious, but when he awoke and found that he was lying on the ground by himself, he started to panic instantly. The last thing he remembered was staring up at Zoro and trying to talk him out of throwing his life away. That idiot…he remembered getting hit in the side by the back of Zoro's sword as well…that meant- "Oh hell no…that idiot!" the blond exclaimed as he forced himself to his feet before running off so he could search for a certain swordsman. His leg was still in a bit of pain, but he could ignore it for now. He had to find Zoro and hope that he was somehow still alive. He wanted to know what Zoro meant when he said…'If I let you die for me…I'll never be able to forgive myself…' That wasn't something the swordsman would just say unless there was some extra meaning behind it. Sanji never saw Zoro as the type to say something like that, especially not to him so he couldn't let that fool die without giving him some kind of answers. "He better not be dead…"

After what seemed like forever, Sanji finally located where Zoro was. To his surprise, the man still seemed to be standing but when he got over to the other the sight nearly made him sick. There was blood all over the ground and all over Zoro, his clothes were even more torn up but his arms were crossed over his chest and he was standing there as if nothing had happened. There was no way this was just nothing, and where the hell was that Warlord!? There was no way they were let go that easily!

"Hey! You scared me to fucking death you idiot! Where the hell did all this blood come from!? And what the hell happened to you!?" Sanji was furious. Zoro really had done something stupid, and he was just barely alive now. Sanji knew if he didn't get the other to Chopper and fast then they would end up losing him.

"W-what happened…? N-nothing happened." Zoro finally managed to mumble out while continuing to stand in the exact same position he had been in when Sanji found him. His body was numb and his eyes were just barely open, but he had managed to survive that big ball of pain somehow, and to his surprise, the blond had been the one to find him. It was probably better that way though. It gave the swordsman a bit of relief to know that Sanji was still alive. "S-sorry…"

"What the hell are you-? H-hey! Dumbass!" Sanji had started to ask Zoro what he was apologizing for, but before he could, the swordsman had started to fall. Exhaustion and blood loss was finally taking its toll on him, but before he hit the ground, the blond managed to catch him and hauled him over his shoulder. "You idiot… Don't you ever scare me like that again…" The blond mumbled out as he started to haul the green haired male back to where they had last seen the others. Of course he knew damn well that something had in fact happened, but he also knew there was no way Zoro would tell him on his own. However, what Zoro didn't know…three other people had actually seen his selfless act and what he had done to protect the others.

Over the next couple of days, the crew slowly started to recover from their huge battle with Moria. No one knew how Luffy was up and running around after such a hard battle but no one questioned it either. During the time they were resting, two people had actually started to blab about what had happened between Zoro and Kuma, but Sanji dragged them off and had them only tell him personally. Upon hearing the story, the blond felt his chest tighten slightly. Not only had they seen the entire thing but they also heard everything that Zoro had been mumbling to himself. That alone was enough to make Sanji's cheeks heat up slightly and he muttered something about Zoro being an even bigger idiot than he already was. After getting all the information, he made sure the pair that had told him everything didn't say anything to anyone else. He knew Zoro wouldn't want the others to know about that, but he didn plan on talking to the other once he woke up about all this. He still had some unanswered questions, and he wasn't about to forget about them. He needed those answers because they would probably help him figure some stuff out as well.

Unfortunately, it had taken Zoro roughly two days to finally wake up, which had been a long wait for…well everyone. Once the swordsman had finally opened his eyes, everyone was extremely relieved. Luffy had yelled and scolded Zoro about making them worry, along with Usopp and Chopper. Nami told him that he was a reckless idiot, Franky told him not to make them worry like that again, and Robin simply told him she was glad to see that he was finally awake. The only one who didn't know Zoro was awake yet was Sanji because he had stepped outside to get some air and smoke in peace. He needed to be alone to collect his thoughts before finally talking to Zoro about everything. These last couple days felt like they had dragged on even with their celebration they had going on. The entire time, all Sanji could do was watch Zoro from a distance and think about everything he wanted to ask the other once he woke up. Was he even ready to have any kind of talk with Zoro? He didn't know..but he did know that thinking about it was making him rather anxious.

"There you are…" Someone suddenly called out from behind Sanji. The blond had made sure to sit a pretty good distance away from the others, but it seemed he had been found and that voice…it belonged to the one person he wasn't quite ready to talk to yet. Glancing over his shoulder, there stood Zoro with his arms crossed over his bandaged chest. Instead of his torn up clothes, he now had a short sleeved gray shirt that was left open, along with a new pair of black pants and his usual boots. He also had bandages on both of his arms and on his head, which wasn't really a surprise considering how badly he had been injured when Sanji found him.

"Hey…should you really be up and moving?" The blond asked before taking a puff of the cigarette he had been holding. "You were pretty screwed up when I found you…"

"I slept for a couple days. I'll be fine." Zoro replied as he came over and sat himself down beside Sanji. "You look better. Leg isn't broken it seems." He noted, remembering how badly it had hurt when Sanji kicked Kuma in the face during their fight.

"Nah…just got a shitty bruise and a few scrapes. Nothing compared to how badly you were hurt…" The blond replied with a simple shrug before going back to his cigarette. Damn, this was awkward for him. He had so many questions but didn't know where to start…or even how to start. "Listen…" He finally spoke after a few moments of silence, earning Zoro's attention. "Two of the other guys saw what you did…and they told me everything… They said you took Luffy's pain in order to keep him and everyone else safe…"

Hearing that made Zoro's eye twitch slightly. He thought he had picked a place far enough away that no one would see such a thing…let alone tell Sanji about it. If they saw everything, that means there was a chance they heard everything as well. Damn, he really wasn't ready to have this conversation. He didn't have all his thoughts straight, but if they weren't going to discuss this now, then when? Now seemed like the best time since all the others were distracted by the party. "I'm guessing that's not all you know, is it?" Zoro finally asked while rubbing at the back of his head.

"No…I know more than that but…we don't have to talk about that right now if you don't want to…" Sanji shook his head slightly, keeping his gaze shifted off to the side so the swordsman couldn't see the nervous look on his face. "When you knocked me out…you told me that if you let me die for you, you wouldn't be able to live with yourself… Guess I want to touch on that…"

Hearing that, Zoro could only sigh as he shifted his tired gaze toward the ground. He should have known that one was coming, but even he didn't fully know how to explain it. He was never the best with words, especially not around the man who sat beside him. Through all their constant bickering and fighting with each other, Zoro found himself growing rather attached to their blond cook. It was strange, but he didn't hate it. If anything he enjoyed their constant fighting and the times when they managed to pull themselves together and actually work as a team. In a way, it seemed they always ended up either saving or protecting each other.

"Alright, look. I never want anyone to put their life on the line for me because if I die, it isn't that big of a deal. Sure, I don't want to die. I want to become the world's greatest swordsman, but if I lose my life on that journey, then that's as far as I was meant to go." Zoro started to speak while keeping his gaze fixed on the ground. Out of the corner of his eye he could see Sanji watching him with a very careful but understanding expression. He didn't speak or interrupt either. He just waited patiently for Zoro to continue. "I don't want anyone throwing their life down for me, especially not you. You're the cook for one and if we lost you...well Luffy would probably never eat again, but also…" Zoro had trailed off once again, as if he had either lost his thoughts or he couldn't say what he wanted to say because he couldn't put it into words.

"Zoro, listen...two of the guys from Lola's crew saw what you did...and told me everything. They told me how you took Luffy's pain and was ready to give everything up to save the rest of us. They even heard you apologize to me and everyone else too… But I don't think that's all you wanted to say." Sanji finally spoke after allowing silence to fall between them for a few moments. He really didn't know what to say or how to say it either. Maybe they didn't have to say it though. "If you want to tell me something, you don't have to say it. You can show me instead…"

Listening to Sanji talk, Zoro thought about it once again and rubbed at the back of his neck. The blond was right. He hadn't said everything he wanted to say, but he couldn't put it into words. However…could he really show the other? There was only one way to really express how he felt but he wasn't in any mood to get kicked in the face if the other ended up not feeling the same way about him. Still, he wasn't sure when he would have another chance like this. Sighing quietly, the swordsman slowly looked toward the blond once again before he brought one of his hands up to lightly brush against the other's cheek. To his surprise, Sanji didn't pull away. Instead, the blond just sat there staring toward Zoro with an unreadable expression on his face. Despite not being able to tell what Sanji was thinking, the air around both of them seemed to be rather calm which gave the green haired male a bit of reassurance. After several moments of silence between the two of them Zoro finally decided to move before Sanji could decide that he wanted to back away. With one swift movement, the swordsman leaned forward and very lightly pressed his lips to the blond's. He heard the surprised gasp come from the other and he was about to pull away but a sudden grasp on his shirt stopped him. Sanji had stopped him from moving away and instead kissed him back. To no surprise, the blond's lips definitely tasted like a bit of smoke due to him always smoking, but Zoro didn't mind it. If anything, he thought it was well suited for the blond. The two of them stayed like that for several minutes until finally, the need for air caused them both to separate. Once their lips had separated, the two of them still sat rather close to each other, both staying rather silent as they processed what had just happened. The silence was honestly killing Zoro but he didn't know if he wanted to know what Sanji thought or not. He didn't want to be rejected, but if he was he couldn't honestly be mad, especially with how often the blond practically threw himself at Robin and Nami. Maybe that made Zoro slightly jealous, but he had never shown it.

"So…um…what exactly does this mean now?" Sanji's low voice finally broke the silence, pulling Zoro from his thoughts. He didn't sound mad which was a relief but the question still caught Zoro off guard…even he didn't know the answer or what to say to that. What did this mean for them now? They had just kissed, and neither of them seemed to hate it, yet neither of them really knew how to put a label on it.

"Um… I don't exactly know. Can't say I've ever done something like that before so I'm not entirely sure on where to go after that…" Zoro admitted while rubbing at the back of his neck. Hell, he didn't even know how their crew would react if they knew about what had just happened. Maybe it should just stay between them for now, that way they had time to figure everything out. "We don't necessarily have to figure it out right now…"

"That's true…" Sanji replied as he slowly rose to his feet. Sure he had confessed to girls several times in the past, but it had never gone anywhere. This was an entirely new thing even for him, so it was nice to know that they didn't have to figure it out right away. As the blond stood there in silence, Zoro got to his feet as well and stepped closer to the other before gently grabbing his face once again. He then brought Sanji's face up so that the two of them were looking at each other once again. "Wait…what are you-" Sanji had started to ask the question, but he was cut off by Zoro once again pressing their lips together, this time a bit harder than before. The first kiss had been hesitant and rather gentle but this time it was different. This second one had a lot more passion packed into it, causing Sanji to let out a bit of a gasp before he quickly returned the kiss for the second time. This time his arms came up and wrapped tightly around Zoro's shoulders while Zoro wrapped his own arms around Sanji's slim waist in order to hold him much closer than before. Sanji could taste a very small hint of alcohol on Zoro's lips, but it didn't bother him at all. If anything, that just made it even more intoxicating for him.

"Heeeyyyyy! Zoro! Sanji! Where are you!?" A rather loud and annoying voice suddenly called out from a short distance away. The voice had startled both Sanji and Zoro, causing the two of them to quickly separate and get some distance between the two of them before the source of the voice managed to find them. To calm himself down, Sanji quickly dug out one of his cigarettes and lit it before taking a long drag from it, only to exhale a cloud of smoke above his head. His cheeks were still dusted pink, but he hoped the source of the voice wouldn't notice anything.

"Damn…he knows how to ruin a moment, doesn't he?" Sanji asked while still looking away from Zoro, only to hear a low chuckle come from the swordsman.

"That he does… Guess that means we're going to have to be careful once we get back to the Sunny." Zoro replied lowly before chuckling once again. "What are you going to tell him if he notices that little bit of pink on your cheeks?"

"I don't have the slightest idea what you're talking about, Moss Head. My cheeks aren't pink at all." Sanji scoffed as he rolled his eyes in annoyance. He knew his cheeks had a pink tint to them, but he still hoped that Luffy didn't notice it.

"If he asks…just tell him nothing happened." Zoro still sounded rather calm as their captain finally approached them with a bit of a pouty expression on his face. He was going on and on about how it was time for them to get moving once again and that everyone was waiting for them to get back. However, during his little ramble he seemed to pause as he glanced between the pair with a confused expression on his face.

"What's going on? Did you two get into another fight or something?" Luffy asked as he pointed toward the pair. He was so innocent sometimes…and rather clueless as well when it came to certain things. However, he still somehow managed to notice that something definitely seemed weird between his two crewmates.

"No Luffy. We didn't fight. We were just about to head back." Sanji replied as calmly as possible. "Do you honestly want to focus on that, or do you want to get back out to sea?"

"Back out to sea of course! Now come on and let's get back already! Everyone else is waiting for us!" Luffy exclaimed before he grabbed both Zoro and Sanji before practically bolting back to where the others were while dragging the other two along as if they were nothing.

"H-hey Luffy! We can walk!" Zoro shouted out, but it seemed Luffy didn't hear him due to the fact that he was too busy laughing and shouting about something that even Zoro couldn't understand. As he was being dragged along, the green haired male could only sigh as he looked in the direction of Sanji, who looked rather unamused. "Oi, Cook." He called out, earning Sanji's attention almost instantly. "So what happened back there?"

Hearing the question, Sanji couldn't help but laugh as he shook his head a bit before he gave Zoro a little bit of a smirk.

"Nothing happened."


((Heyyy again. *sips tea* So I wrote this some time ago and I never got around to posting it on here. This was my first attempt at Zoro and Sanji, so I hope they're at least somewhat decent. I'm not sure if I'll ever get around to writing full stories again but I do want to try and continue writing one-shots. Anyways, I hope you guys enjoy and thank you for reading!

~~Rai-Chan