Decisions

At last, it's time for graduation.

Four years at Sabaody High School, complete with making friends and enemies, going on insane adventures, and pissing off faculty, staff, and students alike, all leading up to this moment.

The six younger Straw Hats throw up their caps with the other seniors for their last class photo, then join up with Robin, Franky, and Brook to head to Kuragaina Manor for the party.

It'd taken months to plan the thing and another year for Zoro to convince Mihawk to let them use the place for the night. If not for Perona and Bonney jumping in to help, there's no way he would've relented. The man's cagey as all fuck, so getting through to him for even the simplest things is nothing less than a miracle. It was rare for him to show up for school functions and even rarer to see him at family events, school-sponsored or otherwise.

But as the saying goes, never look a gift horse in the mouth.

They can only imagine the shit Zoro and the girls had to go through to make this happen, but they're glad it all worked out in the end. With the size of the castle coupled with the amount of land surrounding it, there's more than enough space for the Straw Hats and their families to celebrate.

"Seriously, though. How did Kuma not kill us that day?" Usopp asks with a shudder, looking around as though the tyrannical teacher is sneaking up on him. Their field trip to Thriller Bark in the Florian Triangle is one he'll never forget.

"Hell if I know," Zoro replies with a shrug, refilling his mug with more dark ale. "Guess we just got lucky."

Robin giggles from her spot on Franky's lap. "We do seem to have that going for us," she agrees.

Zoro smirks at her, then drains his mug in five gulps and gives a satisfied sigh. "Damn, this is good!"

Nami huffs, glaring at Zoro from the sides of her eyes as she folds her arms. "I still think you're hiding something."

Again, Zoro shrugs. "Believe whatever you want," is all he says. He goes to refill his mug a sixth time put pauses. He blinks, then blinks again, his eyes suddenly widening. "Shit! I forgot!" He shoves the bottle into Nami's hands, slams down his mug on a nearby table, and races from the room, leaving his friends in stunned silence. They hear his heavy footfalls clomping up one of the staircases out in the hallway, then above them as he runs this way and that, followed by a door being thrown open and bouncing off the wall behind it.

The Straw Hats look between each other, even Luffy who's paused shoveling food into his mouth, while everyone else appears undisturbed by the frantic exit.

What the hell just happened?

Zoro reappears ten minutes later, carrying a bag huge and heavy enough to make Santa Claus jealous over his shoulder. He returns to his friends and carefully lowers the bag to the floor. "Sorry," he says, steadying his breathing as he wipes the sweat from his brow.

"What's all that?" Chopper asks, coming up beside him.

A light blush touches Zoro's cheeks, and he turns away and rubs the back of his neck. "Just some, uh…. some stuff for you guys." He opens the bag to reveal eight wrapped boxes inside. He lifts one out, looks it over, and hands it to Nami. "Took me a while to find these."

Setting aside her mug and the now empty bottle, Nami takes the gift and tears off the paper, gasping as she opens the box. Inside is a Tri-Field Log Pose, a full cartography set, and a Tempescope. "Oh my God!"

"I wanted to make sure you had this before you went to Weatheria. That way, they can't tell you you don't know what you're doing."

"Thank you, Zoro!" Nami sings, hugging him around the middle.

Zoro returns her hug and pats her back with a smile, not noticing the envious glare from Sanji. The two break apart, and Zoro next hands a box to Robin. "This one's yours."

Robin unwraps and opens the box and covers her mouth with a gasp. Her gift is an encyclopedia of the world's Poneglyphs. The names Clover and Olvia are engraved in gold script just beneath the title.

"It's the only book that survived Ohara's Buster Call," Zoro tells her.

"You…. Where did you get this?"

"I found it at a museum. They let me buy it after I told them it was for you."

Robin hugs him tight, holding in her tears. "Thank you so much, Zoro."

He hugs her back, again not noticing how hard Sanji glares at him for getting the ladies' attention. "Don't mention it." He hands the third box to Sanji. "For you, dart-brow."

Sanji gives an instinctive snarl at the nickname, though he can't keep from raising said brow at Zoro's smug grin. He opens the gift to find a varnished wooden box and a gold lighter. He takes out the lighter first and looks closely at it to see that it's designed as a woman with her arms wrapped around her legs and her head resting on her knees with her eyes closed. He then slides open the box to find a full set of chef's knives along with an automatic sharpener. "Damn, marimo…." he murmurs.

"I bought these from a friend of mine," Zoro explains. "I told them you're a chef and where you work, and they insisted on this set for you."

"Well…. Thank you."

The fourth box goes to Franky. His eyes sparkle at the remote-controlled Puffing Tom inside it.

"I asked Iceberg to make this. It's based on the original blueprints," Zoro says.

"This is one super gift, Zoro-bro!" He thumps him on the back with his huge hand, almost knocking the wind out of him. "I owe ya for this!"

Fifth is Usopp, who receives a thick black sketchbook and a full artist's toolkit. "Whoa, Zoro!" he shouts.

"Thought it might help with all those invention ideas you have."

"You're awesome, Zoro!"

Zoro bends down and, with both hands, hoists out the sixth and largest box, setting it down in front of Chopper. "I wasn't sure which one to get you so I got them all."

Chopper tears off the paper and flips open the standing box to reveal a wide, three-tier shelf filled with medical textbooks from all over the world. "No way!" He looks up at Zoro, his eyes sparkling with amazement and joy. "You got all these for me?!"

Zoro chuckles and pets Chopper's head, well, hat. "The best doctor deserves the best resources."

"Y-You bastard! That doesn't make me happy!" he trills, clapping his hooves and dancing.

Zoro rolls his eyes with a smile, then gives the seventh box to Brook, who sets down his teacup and saucer and takes it. In his gift are two varnished, velvet-lined cases, one for a violin and the other for a bow. "I would've just gotten you new ones," Zoro states, "but I know they mean a lot to you. You've had them forever."

"Yohohohoho! You're too kind, Zoro-san!"

He looks over and points to something else in the box. "Ah, you missed something."

Brook spots a second, smaller wrapped box under the neck of the violin's case. He pulls it out and opens it to see a large notebook with a set of piano keys lining the edge of the back cover. The notebook's pages are music sheets with a pen in its spiraled spine. "Oh! This is perfect for my compositions! I've had so many ideas with nowhere to put them!"

"Glad you like it." Lastly, Zoro gives the eighth box to Luffy. "I got lucky to get a hold of these for you, Lu."

Luffy opens his gift, and a wide, joyful smile splits his face. In this last box are two hats. The first is orange with a neckstring attached and a pair of goggles with a smiley face painted on one lens and a frowny face on the other wrapped around the band. The second is a blue tophat with another pair of goggles around its band, these with hexagonal-shaped blue lenses lined with chrome. Luffy leaps up and wraps his arms and legs around Zoro's head, making the man stumble backwards. "Thank you, Zoro!" he cries out. "Thank you, thank you, thank you!"

Zoro wriggles his head free and takes a huge inhale, then grins up at his friend. "No problem, Lu."

~SZSZSZSZ~

The party continues for a few more hours, during which time some of the crew show off their presents to their families. Nami and Robin sit off to the side with Zoro, Nami and Zoro tag-teaming another bottle of dark ale while Robin sips from another cup of coffee. "Well?" Nami says as she lowers her mug.

"Well what?" Zoro asks.

Nami rolls her eyes. "Don't play dumb. When are you gonna tell him?"

Zoro only snorts and tops off his mug.

"Nami's right," Robin agrees. "Once the party's over, it'll be a while until we see each other again."

"Whatever," he mumbles before taking a swig.

"Okay, what's going on with you, Zoro?" Nami demands, putting her free hand to her hip. "This isn't like you. You're the most head-on person I know besides Luffy."

"You know as well as I do there's no point."

"Why not?"

A look they've never seen before clouds Zoro's face as he lowers his head, staring at the floor. "I know what he's gonna say."

Nami sighs and shakes her head.

"The party ends at midnight," Robin chimes in. "Why not tell him before we all leave?"

Zoro and Nami turn.

"Think about it. You pull him aside, tell him how you feel, and whatever the outcome, it won't weigh on you anymore," Robin continues. "We're all going our separate ways for a while, so no need to worry about running into him or anything."

"Hey, that's a great idea!" Nami cheers, then turns. "You can't go wrong with that, Zoro."

He casts his half open eyes aside, gripping the mug's handle tighter. They're right. He knows they are. Sure, he already knows how this will end, but prolonging the inevitable will only make it worse when they do meet up again. Originally, they were supposed to have a reunion three days from now, but after some convincing from Rayleigh and Jinbe, Luffy decided to make it two years instead.

Two years.

That'll be enough time for him to heal from whatever Sanji tells him.

"Zoro?" Nami's voice breaks into his thoughts.

He looks from her to Robin and back again. "Can one of you stay close by?" he asks in a tiny voice. "Just in case…. you know…."

"I will," Robin volunteers.

"I'll keep the rest distracted," Nami assures.

Zoro nods his thanks and sets down the mug, taking a deep breath as he stands. He looks at the clock. Ten until midnight. He needs to make this quick.

"You go on outside, Zoro," Robin urges with an encouraging pat on his shoulder. "I'll get him to you."

He nods again and heads out to the east garden at the castle's rear. Everyone else is inside or in the west garden at the front doors, so there's no chance of them being disturbed. The sooner he gets this over with, the better.

~SZSZSZSZ~

"Oh, my sweet Robin-chan! Your angelic presence radiates before these unworthy eyes!" Sanji praises with his signature noodle dance and heart eyes as the woman in question approaches.

Robin smiles ad tilts her head, folding her hands behind her back. "There's someone waiting outside for you, Sanji," she informs.

He freezes. "For me?"

"Yes. A friend of mine. They said they wanted to speak to you but asked to do so in private."

Sanji's heartbeat quickens.

What lovely lady could be waiting for him?

He looks around and spots Nami laughing, drinking, and eating pizza with Nojiko and Bonney, but there's no sign of Perona anywhere.

That can only mean one thing.

"They're waiting in the back," Robin goes on, pointing to the castle's east doors. "I'll take care of things here so no one will bother you two."

Hearts burst from Sanji's eyes as he takes off. "I'm coming, my precious Cutie-chwan!" he cries.

Robin turns as Perona comes back downstairs, peeking around the wall's corner at the long trail of dust Sanji leaves behind. "What's up with him?" she asks, coming over to Robin.

"Nothing out of the ordinary." Lucky for her, neither of them noticed the ear and the eye poking out of Sanji's back. "He's just going to meet someone."

~SZSZSZSZ~

Sanji throws open the doors and bolts outside, looking around for Perona, but not a trace of his curly pink-haired Lolita cutie does he see. What he does spot, however, is a piece of green fluff attached to a very familiar head. His excitement dies down, the smile fading as he strides over to Zoro with his hands in his pockets. "What are you doing out here, marimo? Got lost again?"

Zoro turns. "I was waiting for you," he says. "Hoped we could talk for a minute."

Sanji's eyebrow quirks. "What for? Never thought you were the type for intelligent conversations."

"Sanji."

Instantly, he falls silent.

Zoro never uses his name.

Ever.

He takes a deep drag from his cigarette and exhales the smoke. "So, what is it?"

Zoro faces him, his face set and expressionless. "I'm in love with you, Sanji," he confesses.

The cigarette falls from his mouth as his jaw drops, his eyes wide with shock. He furiously digs his fingers in his ears, then knocks the sides of his head with both hands. "I'm sorry, what?" he asks at last, leaning in closer.

"I'm in love with you," Zoro repeats.

"Is that a joke? Tell me you're joking."

Zoro's brow furrows. "Why would I joke about that?"

Sanji's upper lip curls into a sneer, and he makes no effort to hide it. "And here I thought you were stupid before. What, were you expecting me to swoon over you because you're so hot or something?"

Silence.

"Better luck with the next guy because no fucking way would I ever date you." Without giving him a chance to reply, Sanji turns on his heel and speed-walks back into the castle, his teeth grit and his hands clenched in his pockets. Leave it to the shitty marimo to put him in a bad mood on the crew's last fucking day together. He never thought he'd see the day he'd be relieved to get away from one of his friends, especially one he's so close to.

Sanji plops down on the bottom step of a nearby staircase and retrieves his carton from his suit jacket, slipping a fresh cigarette into his mouth. He reaches for the pocket with his new lighter in it but stops and instead gets his matches from the other side, taking a deep drag as he lights up. Right now, he doesn't wanna see anything that makes him even think about Zoro.

Sanji tips back his head and exhales the smoke through his teeth. He needs to see his angels. Their beautiful faces always help take his mind off things. He grabs a covered ashtray from another pocket inside his suit jacket, drops his spent cigarette inside, and slides the lid closed, sighing out a final mouthful of smoke. "Nami-swan! Robin-chwan! Cutie-chwan!" he sings as he races from the staircase, leaving five pink petals in his wake. "Your White Knight has returned!"

~SZSZSZSZ~

Zoro falls to his knees as every part of him deflates, his chest feeling hollow from heartbreak. He doesn't understand why he's taking this so hard. It's not like he didn't know what was coming. Hell, for that matter, he'd told Nami and Robin more than once how things would end, but somehow, that doesn't make it hurt any less. He just didn't think it'd hurt this bad.

A hand rests on his back, and he looks over his shoulder, cheeks wet with tears, to see Robin leaning over him. She kneels beside him and pulls a handkerchief from her shirt, wiping his face, then draws him into a tight hug. "I'm here," she assures.

Zoro doesn't lift his arms but only nods. His voice won't come, no matter how much he wants to speak. But what is there to say? Exactly what he knew would happen happened. There's nothing to explain, nothing to discuss. Robin asks no questions, instead cradling the back of his head with one hand, rubbing and patting his back with the other. Zoro swallows past the lump in his throat and croaks, "I'll do it."

Robin's hand pauses.

"Tonight."

She pulls Zoro from her chest and grips his shoulders, looking him in the eyes. "You're sure?"

A nod.

"It can't be undone or reversed once you go through with it."

Another nod.

"You're absolutely sure?"

A third nod.

Robin's nostrils flare with her slow exhale as she closes her eyes. "All right." She lowers her hands to her lap. "Do you want to tell them or should I?"

"Only Nami and Chopper."

She nods. "I assume you'll take care of the others."

More a statement than a question but Zoro replies, "They're gonna find out I confessed to him, and they already know about it anyway. They're the ones who told me. So, yeah. I've got it."

"Okay."

Zoro looks up at her with a weak smile, his half open eyes bloodless. "Is that you saying we won't be friends after this?"

Robin blinks. "How was that implied?"

He looks away and shakes his head, rubbing circles against his forehead with the heels of his hands. "I can't think straight right now."

"That's to be expected," Robin gives a sad smile, "though I wish things would've worked out for you."

Zoro shrugs.

"Robin? Zoro?" Nami calls. "Where are you guys?"

"Over here!" Zoro calls back with a wave, his voice clearer than he'd expected.

Nami jogs over to them. "Hey. Luffy's looking for you guys. It's time."

Zoro nods and stands, his shoulders back and his head high as he goes back to the castle.

But he's not fooling anyone, most definitely not Nami.

Besides Luffy, she's known him the longest, and she can see right through his macho, tough guy act.

Once Zoro's well out of earshot, Nami folds her arms and sighs, "So, he did it."

"And got rejected."

"Not surprised. But at least it's over with."

"It is."

The pair walk back into the castle just as Brook sits down at the grand piano and starts playing "Binks's Sake." Luffy locks his arms around Zoro's and Sanji's necks with a wide grin and a loud laugh, the awkward atmosphere between the two boys going right over his and the other guys' heads as the rest of the Straw Hats join the group hug and start to sing. Despite the underlying turmoil, their voices blend and rise together in the joy of the song.

The last note rings out just as twelve chimes echo through the room, signaling midnight and the end of the party.

"That was great!" Luffy cheers.

"Considering it was your idea, did you expect anything else?" Nami points out.

"Ah, dear Nami-swan! Always so observant!" Sanji adores as he noodle dances behind her, hearts bursting from his eyes and floating around his head.

Zoro rolls his eyes but keeps his comment to himself. He's said everything he needed to, and there's no sense starting shit when the crew's separating. Overall, it's been a great night, and he's too full and sleepy to argue with him anyway.

"Okay, remember, you guys!" Luffy says. "We meet back up at Sabaody in two years!"

The Straw Hats put their fists in a circle, then raise their arms to the sky, sealing their pact with their group cheer of, "We are!" With a few more hugs and thank you's for being invited and for their gifts, the other Straw Hats and their families head for home. Zoro waves goodbye to everyone, then heads back inside, shutting the heavy doors behind him.

"Those friends of yours are as lively as ever," Mihawk remarks, having already started cleaning up alongside Perona.

Zoro drags a hand down his face. "Tell me about it." He rolls up his sleeves and steps in to help, dumping an armful of wrapping paper into a large black garbage bag.

"You're still planning to stay here?" Perona asks, wrinkling her nose as she picks up a greasy pizza box by its edge with the tips of her first two fingers.

"Yeah," Zoro says. "I need to get stronger, and I can only do that here." His voice is still steady, and he can tell his face is still neutral

"Hey, what's eatin' you, Noa?" Bonney asks through a mouthful of pizza.

Zoro looks up. "Huh?"

"Don't 'huh' me." Bonney strides over and pokes Zoro's forehead between his eyebrows. "You're pissed about something, so spit it out."

Zoro only growls and turns his back to her as he stands, sweeping the floor with a broom Mihawk hands him.

"You told him, didn't you?" Bonney pries.

Zoro ducks his head but doesn't answer, clamping his mouth shut.

"He turned you down?" Perona interjects.

Still, no response.

"Stop pestering him, girls," Mihawk stops them before either can say anything more. He turns. "What do you plan to do?"

Zoro straightens. "I'm gonna do it."

Perona gasps. "You will?! You really want to?!"

"….Yeah. I'm not stuck thinking about him anymore, so I can do what I want. Robin, Chopper, and Nami are the only ones in the crew who know. They're the only ones who need to right now."

Bonney grins and ruffles Zoro's hair with her free hand. "Aww, wook at our widdle bwudder," she coos. "All gwown up."

"Hey, cut it out!" He shakes off her hand, hiding his blush as he kneels to gather up more pizza boxes. "Will you get over here and help already? All this shit's yours, Bonney"

Perona grabs Zoro's cheeks and stretches them out as far as she can. "You're not cute at all!" she scolds while Bonney cackles, Mihawk having completely tuned out the commotion among his nieces and nephew.

"Ow, ow, ow! Stof it, Rona!" Zoro snaps as he swats his sister's hands away, rubbing his cheeks as he frowns at her. "The hell's that supposed to mean? I'm not trying to be cute."

Perona pouts. "You never are."

Mihawk lifts the last wine bottle and shakes it, frowning in annoyance upon finding it empty. "It seems you've run through my entire liquor supply," he states, tossing it into the half-full bag he carries.

"Oh. Yeah." Zoro scratches his hair with a heavy sigh. "I should've warned you about Nami. She drinks as much as I do."

"Yes, you should have."

"I'll pay you ba – " Zoro pauses and lowers his hand, seeing his palm covered with grease and cheese fragments. "Goddammit, Bonney!" he rounds on his other sister. "You fucked up my hair again!"

"Huh? What d'ya – " Bonney says as she turns, stopping at the sight of Zoro's hand. "Oh. Oops."

Zoro snarls but instead scoops up more armfuls of trash into other bags, tying off and setting aside each one after they're full. With the four of them working together, the room gets cleaned up from top to bottom by 1:30. Mihawk dusts off his hands and retrieves his coat and hat. "I'll be going out for a bit," he says with a pointed look at Zoro, who flinches under his uncle's glare. "I need to restock."

"Ooh, I'll come, too!" Perona pipes up. "I need to get some more plushies."

"Me, too," Bonney adds.

"Are you about to order more pizza?" Mihawk questions.

"Well, duh, unless you want them coming here while you're gone."

Mihawk pinches the bridge of his nose and sighs but doesn't bother arguing. It's an extra stop he's none too keen on making, but he's had more than enough visitors for one night.

"I'm coming, too," Zoro mutters, lowering his eyes as the other three turn to stare at him.

Perona tilts her head. "You never go out at night, Noa," she points out.

"Yeah, well, first time for everything."

"You're such a shit liar," Bonney accuses, her hands on her hips. "What do you need?"

Zoro stuffs his hands in his pockets and turns away with an annoyed huff.

"We're not going anywhere until you tell us," Perona insists.

Silence.

"Perona," Mihawk says.

"Hmm?"

"You wouldn't happen to have that Bearsy costume, would you?"

Zoro's neck almost snaps as he wheels his head around, a shudder running down his spine at the ecstatic shimmer in his sisters' eyes as they both grin at him.

"Oh, yeah," Bonney leers. "He looked really cute in that."

He gulps, looking from one to the other and back again.

"Hang on," Perona sings as she all but skips towards the staircase. "It's in my room somewhere."

"Okay, okay!" Zoro blurts out.

Perona stops and turns. "Well?" she asks with a sickeningly sweet smile.

Zoro sneers as his cheeks turn red. "I n-need to get…. to get new clothes and shit," he grumbles. "And I need some help finding what fits," he adds in a tiny voice.

Bonney throws back her head and bursts out laughing along with Perona, who twirls with excitement, while Mihawk only smirks.

Zoro claps a hand over his eyes and drops his head with an exasperated groan.

This is gonna be a long ass night.

~SZSZSZSZ~

A/N: A Tempescope is essentially weather box that shows what the weather is like outside in real time.

Thank you all for being so patient and supportive. I'm finally back, and here is the revamped, rebooted first chapter of All I Wanted. I hope you've enjoyed reading it, and see you in the next chapter!