Sanji woke up light streaming through the green curtains, making Zoro look more like a plant than ever. The swordsman was so calm and open that his hand went forward and almost ran through the green hair. He pulled his hand back as tempting as it was to give in, he couldn't be weak again.

He sighed as his mind wandered back to his training, he had traveled all the way to Kamabakka Kingdom at his father's orders. King/Queen Iva was an incredible fighter and cook but well he/she depending what gender he felt like being was overwhelming and Sanji had to be honest it would have been nice if his dad had warned him what he was walking into. After surviving the hell that was his training he had met another guest to the kingdom and…..no…..nope not going there again.

He clambered out of the bed and took the other door this time, he stripped off his pyjamas and worked out how to run the bath. He lowered himself into the tub enjoying the heat as it seeped into his tense muscles. He wondered where the hell Luffy was and when he was going to return because he didn't know how long he could sleep next to the swordsman and not cross the line.

Why did his life always have to be so complicated? He had just wanted to come here and prove himself, he had brushed of the small fact he had never actually killed anyone before. He had been so convinced that Luffy and Zoro were evil, that he would defend Alvida against them but the man he had slept next to definitely didn't seem evil. He concluded that he would have to stop worrying about it until he actually met the other man and climbed out of the bath. As he reached for the towels at the side the door opened and in came a yawning Marimo, he quickly wrapped the towel round his waist.

'Hey just leave the water'

Sanji nodded and quickly left as Zoro once again stripped in front of him. He dried himself and pulled a clean shirt out of his bag, this one was a nice white button up, over it he put a black waistcoat and his nicer black breeches. He heard the door open and he focused on searching for some miscellaneous thing in his bag until he was sure that Zoro was dressed. He looked up and saw that Zoro was wearing the exact same outfit, the only thing that let him know it was clean was the other one still dumped on the floor from last night.

They left the room to go for breakfast and Zoro was quickly joined by his companion, they entered the dining room that was a lot fuller this time round. He recognised Robin and Nami both looking magnificent even this early in the morning, next to Robin was Franky who was dressed pretty much the same as the day before, next to him was the little medic. The rest were new, Zoro decided to take the introductions upon himself.

'Guys this is Curly' he pointed at Sanji 'The guy with the long nose is Usopp he's our sharpshooter' The young man with dark curly hair nodded nervously at Sanji he was wearing light coloured trousers that were very baggy but no top 'The skeleton is Brook' Sanji had to do a double take at the man….no skeleton with an afro he wore a smart black jacket and bright trousers. Unusual was starting to become an understatement, the top seat was unoccupied probably awaiting the King's return.

'My names not Curly you moss brained idiot' he glared at Zoro.

Zoro looked at him 'Sorry my bad' he turned back to his friends 'This is the shitty cook.'

He without skipping a beat sat down and started eating next to Usopp , Sanji was pissed insulting his eyebrow was one thing but his cooking was another.

'My cooking is fucking amazing, you asshole' and he kicked Zoro's seat out from under him because in the end he was a mature adult, or at least he had been before meeting this idiot.

He ignored the moss on the floor who was apparently amused by all this and bowed towards the ladies.

'I'm sorry for causing trouble so early in the morning'

He sat down next to Zoro who had finally gotten off the floor and back onto his seat.

He could see Nami and Robin whispering to each other, the red heads eyes firmly on him.

He began eating his breakfast, he really wanted to cook again the food was nice but nowhere near his level. He carefully looked round the table, other than Franky and the girls the rest still looked wary of him, well except the skeleton how the hell were you supposed to read a skeleton.

Brook caught him looking 'I'm keeping my eye on you' he paused a beat 'except I have no eyes' he burst out laughing at his own joke before carrying on eating.

'So what are you doing today Sanji-kun?' Nami was smiling at him sweetly.

'Nothing I guess, is there something you want off me my dear?'

She looked over at Zoro 'Why don't you take him out?, show him around Zoro'

'I don't want to I'm going to train today' Zoro didn't even look up.

'That wasn't an option, now go have a fun filled day with your guest or I'm increasing your debt' Nami's sweet smile was gone she was now staring the swordsman down.

'How's he my guest exactly?'

'I can go on my own you know' the pair of them quickly glared at him and returned to their negotiations.

'You brought him here, he's your problem until Luffy gets back'

Zoro slouched sulkily 'Should have just beat him in the woods and left him there' he muttered

'Well you didn't, so now you have to play nice'

'I'm still here you know' Sanji said trying to get their attention.

'Fine I'll take him out show him around, when is Luffy getting back anyway?'

Nami shrugged and went back to her breakfast. He was left feeling put out by the conversation, ok he wasn't here on the best of intentions but they hadn't even pretended to be nice about it.

'Cook-san if your back before dinner would you like to help in the kitchen this evening? Of course one of our chefs would have to watch that you don't poison us.'

'Of course Robin-chwan I would love that, I would never poison food, it's a great dishonour as a chef to poison someone' Sanji shuddered the idea of hurting someone with food was abhorrent.

Robin nodded 'I have heard of the strict food laws that the Baratians have in place'

Just how much did Robin know about him, she was right though, there was strict laws about stealing food, rules about sharing food with those who had none, and yes there was a law about poisoning food too. All of them came with heavy punishments, those laws were ones he was particularly proud of.

He felt Zoro stand up next to him 'Coming Curly?' Sanji looked at his empty plate and nodded following him out of the dining room.

'Look if you don't want to go, we don't have to' Sanji offered hoping to get Zoro out of his sulk

He watched as Zoro ran his hand through the his hair 'No if we don't go she'll know, the damned witch always knows'

'What did I tell you about insulting a beautiful woman?' he glared at the mannerless idiot

'Maybe I should call you pervy cook instead' Zoro grinned

God he loved that laugh...like he liked the laugh dammit 'Fine then I'll call you shitty swordsman then'

'I could take you on anytime' Zoro's hand had slid to his swords but the grin on his face showed no threat.

They walked out to the carriage once again ready and waiting, they climbed in as Zoro's companion decided to fly off.

'Where's he going?' Sanji asked confused

'Probably to eat or just have a break' he shrugged 'He's good at finding me'

Sanji burst out laughing 'I just realised a bird babysits you'

Zoro grinned at him 'Yea, well you get babysat by me so what does that say about you'

He didn't know what it was about Zoro but he got under his skin and dammit he had him on this one.

He watched the countryside as it passed, it was a beautiful green country with large open fields that looked to be mostly for farming,the thick forests he had travelled through was not too far away and mountains trailed down one side.

'So are you from this town?'

Zoro shook his head 'Not from Foosha village but I am from this kingdom'

'How about we head there sometime? You can show me where you're from' Sanji's grin faltered as he saw the forlorn look on Zoro's face.

'Something wrong Zoro?' as though remembering where he was Zoro went back to his stoic exterior.

'I'm fine but if you want to go to Shimotsuki Village, you'll have to go alone' they had arrived at Foosha village so Sanji dropped it for just now maybe he could get an answer later.

They walked through the village with Sanji admiring the buildings and hoping that even with the directionless idiot leading that they might make it to the market, he loved looking at local produce.

The further in they got the more he noticed the strange behaviour of some of the locals, they seemed to be staring at them, whispering and some even going indoors. He looked at Zoro to ask what was going on, and stopped in his tracks, the swordsman was tense, his hand hovering near the hilts of his swords.

Zoro hadn't noticed him pause and walked on without him, he was so focused on the villagers as they seemed to go back to normal, that he didn't notice that Zoro was now out of sight. Dammit he ran ahead looking around for the familiar green, he found the market and asked around, most just shook their head, eventually he ran into a group of men.

'Why are you looking for that freak?' the man looked genuinely angry.

Sanji stood staring, unsure what to say.

'Hey are you that guy that Alvida sent to finally kill that demon?' a second man spoke looking excited.

Sanji furrowed his brow confused at the reaction 'I thought he wasn't a demon?'

'I'm not' an angry voice said behind him

Angry man one paled at the sight of the swordsman but angry man two was clearly stupid as well as angry.

'The only reason you get to be here is because you protect our King, just wait until he sees sense and gets rid of you' stupid angry man taunted.

Sanji looked at the stoic expression held in place, the hand hovering tensely near his blades, not out of fear Sanji figured but out of habit.

Sanji lost it, his dad had always said he had a temper on him and apparently he was going to prove that now. His foot connected with the idiot that was insulting Zoro and he flew into the wall. He knew that he hadn't broken any bones he had held back enough but he was going to be in pain for quite a while.

'Say that again and next time I will break something' he stared down the men who suddenly decided they had somewhere else to be, carting off their sore friend.

'You didn't have to do that you know' Zoro seemed calmer, his hand finally away from the hilts of his sword

'I know but they just really pissed me off. What was that about though?' he wouldn't force it but dammit he really wanted to know.

Zoro ran his hand through his hair, sighing heavily 'Fine but can we leave here now?'

Sanji nodded and followed the swordsman; after going in circles a few time they finally found a way out of the village into the open countryside.

They found a peaceful field and Zoro lay down on the grass soaking up the warm rays, looking up at the clear blue sky. Sanji sat next to him legs crossed, waiting for the Marimo to start.

'You come from a seafaring country right?'

'Yea, Baratie is lots of islands pretty much everyone can sail back home'

'So you guys have superstitions right?'

'Yea things like no whistling on deck or it will cause a storm and every ship get christened before sailing' there were others but those jumped to mind.

'Here the superstitions are all land based things to do to keep your crops from failing and old tales about demons' Zoro sighed 'When I was born the midwife freaked out, claimed that my hair was a clear sign that I was a demon and a danger to the village' he glared at the sky 'It didn't help that no one knew who my dad was, so they abandoned me in the Woods'

What the hell? Sanji stared at Zoro then it fell in place the reason that Zoro hated being called a demon.

'An old woman who lived in the woods took me in' he could see Zoro's face brighten 'She was amazing when we went to town she told everyone to shut up and stop being stupid, she died when I was four though. After that I had to fend for myself it wasn't too bad, the villagers ignored me and the few that tried more regretted it, I was fast and strong even back then'

Sanji expected Zoro to look upset but he just looked calm. Sanji didn't feel calm though he now wished he'd put more force into his kick earlier, he even had an irrational feeling of wanting to hurt the people who had tried to hurt little Zoro.

'When I was five I found this scrawny little three year old, he laughed and played with me whilst we were searching for his grandfather' he was grinning now 'When I finally found him, the kid wouldn't let go, he kept saying I was his nakama and he wanted me to come with him. The old man asked me where my family was I told them I had none, he looked me up and down, I was scrawny as hell my clothes were too big because I'd had to find some that no one wanted'

'How did you eat?' Sanji had to know, not knowing was making him uneasy.

'Summer I knew what plants to eat and how to catch small game, winter was harder I had to steal or find scraps in town'

Sanji's gut twisted, he felt his hatred towards the village increasing.

'The old man took us to the Inn, the entire time I was in there the locals were glaring at me' he sighed 'He finally asked the villagers why they were acting strange and when they started their demon speech I tried to leave but he stopped me'

'He stood up there and then and walked out with me and the kid he told his guards to take us home, he would catch up when he had dealt with something' Zoro was smiling, Sanji felt his resolve crumbling even more as he was sure he knew what was coming next.

'I was afraid that when the old man caught up he would get rid of me but all he did was take me aside and ask if I would be willing to protect his grandson Luffy, in return I would have a home and anything I needed' Zoro let out a chuckle 'Luffy answered yes for me and I've been with him ever since, people still fear me but the locals generally leave me alone because they love him, I still get hassle from travellers like today though.'

There was so many things he wanted to say but Zoro didn't seem the kind that would want pity, he knew he hated getting pity about…...about his past.

He leant over and ran his hand through the green hair it was soft and thick 'I like your hair, makes you unique and easy to find'

Zoro laughed and sat up 'That means alot coming from you spiral-brow, is unique your speciality?'

He rubbed his brow 'Well I haven't met anyone else with it yet'

Thinking of unique 'What do the villagers think of Franky if they think green is an omen?'

Zoro sat up 'He's a foreigner and he's not the first they've seen with blue hair Princess Nefeltari visits regularly'

Sanji nodded, that royal family he knew about.

Zoro got up 'We should probably head back, you'll want to go cook up some crappy food right?'

Sanji clouted him on the back of the head, he was going to rise to the bait.

'You're going the wrong way mossball'

After herding Zoro to where they had left the carriage, they headed home in silence. Sanji was left with a lot to think about, the image of a small hungry Marimo was haunting him, Luffy had saved Zoro from that hell. No three year old is evil though, so maybe Luffy had grown up to be the monster he had been told about. He stared at the passing countryside, he knew he was grasping but he was desperately trying to harden his resolve but it was slowly dissolving around him.

This chapter gave me problems, usually I proof read once and post but no I've spent days tweaking this till I was happy-ish. Then I made my husband read all the previous chapters then this one to make sure it worked. So apologies for it being help off