LOOKING FOR BALANCE

Zoro and Sanji feel an unexpected attraction and they decide to test it. Between rebellion, desire and a crazy crew in love with adventures, how will their relationship evolve? Is it a new way of waging war or an opportunity to develop more complex feelings? In any case, there will be sparks. Between the two of them, it's always a matter of pride.

Genres: Romance, Friendship, Action/Adventure, Humor

Information:

This story is a translation of my fiction En équilibre.

I tried to build realistic and ambitious couples in the midst of their wacky daily life so I took time to develop and go through many adventures to dig into characters' psychology.

I tried to respect as much as possible the characters' consistency and everything that happened until the end of the Thriller Bark arc.

Main pairing: Zoro/Sanji

Secondary pairing: Luffy/Nami

Disclaimer: Of course, I do not own One Piece and his characters. I do not get any commercial benefit and I thank the author for giving us permission to have fun with his masterpiece.

This is rating E for raw and vulgar language, canon-typical violence and sex scenes - very suggested and/or explicit. Attention, those are scenes of homosexual relations between men and I will not warn you at the beginning of each concerned chapter for not spoiling them. Just so you know, there will be smut now and then.

I want to thank Typone Lady who made me discover One Piece. If she hadn't made me read her stories, I wouldn't have been writing this. Thank you so much.

I would be delighted to have your opinion on my story so don't hesitate to leave me reviews.

09/01/22 EDIT: Thanks to KumaZura for proof reading this chapter.

Enjoy your reading.

Chapter 1

The spark

Sanji stared at himself in the mirror. He had enormous dark circles under his eyes and his skin was pale. He was exhausted. He sighed and tied his tie over his blue shirt, then checked his suit for wrinkles before leaving the bathroom.

It had already been more than two weeks since they had set sail once again after their adventures on Thriller Bark… Outside, the sun was barely rising and the morning air was fresh. He saw Robin a little farther, her eyes clear despite the end of her watch.

Back in his galley, Sanji cooked the huge quantities necessary for the crew's breakfast thanks to his expertise and force of habit. He was enjoying a cigarette when his companions began to join him.

As usual, mealtime was a perpetual battlefield where food and drinks were counted as booty in the midst of indescribable chaos. This morning was no exception and Luffy had already swallowed half the food before the cook could stop him in order to save something for the others. Then the captain decided to serve himself from his crewmate's plates around the table and soon enough, complaints were rising.

Sighing, Sanji decided to at least fight for his two goddesses' breakfasts and a fork brushed an elastic hand. He then brought their meals to Nami and Robin who thanked him. Chopper and Usopp were trying to eat while watching their food, to no avail. Franky was sipping his cola and Brook was competing with the straw hat boy about the amount of food he was swallowing up. Zoro came in a little later and also tried to eat, escaping the captain's arms while glaring at him.

As soon as the tornado of the crew dispersed to its various activities, Sanji washed the dishes and cleaned the galley. When he emerged from the room, the morning was pretty advanced and the blond stretched.

He had just finished managing the first meal of the day. Two more were waiting for him. Not to mention the captain's and crew's snacks. And refreshments. And sweets for Nami and Robin, even if this last task didn't bother him as much as the others. Fortunately, the cook loved his job and the straw hat crew's adventures brightened his life enough.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Luffy asking him a silent question from the deck and he firmly shook his head to dissuade him from begging so soon. A few moments later, he watched him laugh at the tiny fish that Ussop had just caught. A little farther, Franky was fixing up the ship's mast damaged by a previous storm, Brook was showing Chopper a few chords, Zoro was training, Robin was reading and Nami was focusing on her maps. An ordinary day.

But today was different. More precisely, yesterday had been different and today was strange.

Sanji leaned on the left rail and lit a cigarette. He hadn't slept the night before and he had a feeling that the day would be long. He blamed the marimo head who was behaving perfectly normally, busy sweating on the deck. Maybe he had just hallucinated…

The cook thought one more time about what had happened. When, how, why did it all begin, he had spent the whole night thinking about it.

In vain.

*Flashback*

He remembered that he had kept thinking again and again about his ridiculous behavior against Kuma despite Brook's reassuring words as soon as they left Thriller Bark. He felt diminished in front of the idiot marimo who had sacrificed himself and quite naturally, his resentment against himself had turned into anger against the swordsman.

Zoro was such an obvious rival. Sanji had been relieved to know that he was alive at the time, and although he had admired his courage and resistance, the more he thought about it, the more his traitorous attitude came back in his mind. Why had he knocked him out? As if he wasn't as important as him to the World Government. As if he wouldn't have been able to live up to it. As if his friendship with Luffy didn't count as much.

After the euphoria of victory, he had spent the first days at sea brooding in the galley while Zoro was recovering thanks to Chopper's excellent care. And thanks to an unexpected stroke of luck.

The crew's doctor was keeping the swordsman in the infirmary. Despite his threats, Zoro was only allowed one or two hours a day out on the deck and the reindeer regularly jumped on him to replace bandages that the man was removing right after. His body had been extremely bruised and despite his extraordinary recovery, his wounds had been so severe that Chopper had wanted to take no risk.

So, when Zoro had resumed his training without anyone knowing, it had been the last straw.

Sanji was the one who had discovered him. He had brought him his meals in the infirmary at the doctor's request and that day, he had found him balancing on one arm, doing push-ups. Too angry to worry about his rival's wounds, he hadn't resisted and had kicked him until the swordsman had crashed to the ground. Furious, Zoro had tried to grab his swords from against the wall to defend himself but Sanji had been faster and had already moved them away.

"You're such a bastard," Sanji had said, clearly annoyed.

Of course, the swordsman hadn't understood and had stared at him wide-eyed. Sanji had sighed and had deigned to explain the obvious. "You came close to death a week ago. Don't you think you could take a break in your suicidal program?"

Zoro had shrugged his shoulders. "I feel good."

The cook had rolled his eyes. Not happy with having endured the worst pains, Zoro was taunting him by resuming his iron discipline so quickly. This idiot probably didn't care about his own life and that was his problem but what was really bothering Sanji was that Zoro had no idea of the wound he had inflicted on him. To his ego.

He had put down his plate and had left without another word.

End of the first act. Until the next day.

Zoro was waiting wisely on his bed and the blond had thought his little speech had had some effect but it wasn't the case. The fencer had watched him come closer with a smile from ear to ear and Sanji had understood something was wrong even before he had opened his mouth.

"You didn't tell Chopper I was training."

Strangely, it was true. Sanji didn't know why. It would have been a good excuse for the doctor to give his crewmate a beating.

"You really want me to die, don't you?"

Sanji had looked at him with perplexity. He had had proof that the stupid musclehead didn't understand anything. "If I tell you to rest, you conclude that it is because I want you to die?" It was the most illogical thing Zoro could have said after all the time they had spent together but the cook was almost not astonished.

"Yeah. You dislocated my shoulder and I couldn't tell Chopper because he would have killed me for training. So, I had a choice between dying from the doc's hands or from pain by shutting my trap. I conclude you want me to die and there's not even a doubt about it."

The blonde had stared at him. "If I wanted to kill you, I wouldn't have tried to interfere between you and Kuma, you idiot."

"Don't give me that shit, you didn't do it for me."

Sanji hadn't replied. After all, he wasn't wrong. At least, not entirely. Zoro had slowly sat up, his wounds probably more painful than he wanted to say and he had leaned over to the cook who had placed his plate next to him. "You can't bear that I'm still here, can you?" He had said with a mocking voice.

The cook had frozen and the swordsman had carried on.

"You can't stand that I'm better than you."

Sanji had slowly turned towards him and had stared at him with a hard face. "You haven't the slightest idea of what I think so shut the fuck up."

He left, satisfied.

End of the second act.

Yesterday, last act.

A few days had passed. Sanji had continued to bring the swordsman his plate once or twice a day without exchanging a word while another crewmember took care of the other meals. Zoro was getting better and Chopper was going to allow him to reappear amongst the living from one day to the next.

That day, the crew had stopped on a tiny and visibly deserted island that wouldn't take long to explore. The cook had been appointed to supervise the ship and he had been busy in the galley for quite some time, happy to be able to get ahead and not being interrupted from his job for once.

Towards noon, he had knocked at the infirmary door and had found the swordsman meditating on the floor. He had put down his plate in silence and had been about to leave when the other had called out to him.

"Where are we?" He had asked.

"Not on the island we were aiming for, but probably not far off. This one is so small that it isn't listed according to Nami-san and Robin-chan doesn't know it either. They left to explore but we should leave this evening."

With a smile, Zoro had gotten up, grabbed his plate and had gone out on the deck before Sanji could make a move. He had followed him outside and had found him eating on the ground, leaning against the mast in the sun. As he had approached, the swordsman had frowned. "I know what you're gonna say but I don't need a babysitter", He had warned him.

Sanji hadn't replied immediately but he had felt the anger stepping up to the next level. Zoro pretty much always annoyed him and since their last conversation, it was even worse. "Do you ever stop believing you know what I fucking think?" He had replied, glaring at him.

"And you, when are you gonna acknowledge that I'm right?"

"Is that all that matters to you?" The blond had shouted. "Being the best? Crushing the others?!"

"Of course!" Zoro had replied as if Sanji had lost his mind. "I want to be the best swordsman in the world, I'll remind you!"

"What the hell are you talking about? You won't be the best swordsman in the world if you offer to die all the time, you moron!" The cook had sharply pointed out.

Zoro had grasped the allusion but he had shrugged his shoulders. "At least I would have tried then."

Sanji had stared at him for a second before feeling the rage overwhelming him. "I know very well what you had to bear for saving Luffy", He had spat in a dark voice, "I'm the one who picked you up and the Risky brothers told me everything. Why didn't you let me do it? You think you're so much better than the others or is it that your dream isn't that important after all?!"

Zoro had seriously studied him with a look as hard as stone. "That was not yours to do", He had calmly replied.

"What?! You bastard! Who the fuck do you think you are?!"

The swordsman hadn't had the time to react: the cook had gone wild and sent him flying against the Sunny's railing, his plate smashing to the ground. Zoro had quickly risen and looked daggers at him. Then, he had thrown himself upon him in return, all his swords dancing around him.

The fight had been rough and damages had accumulated quickly on the ship. Sanji couldn't have told if it was because they hadn't fought for several days or just because of anger but he hadn't held back despite his opponent's state who had returned blow for blow.

After a moment, Sanji's foot had been blocked by two swords and Zoro had looked at him with a mocking smile.

"You're too susceptible, stupid cook," He had snickered.

The blond had got rid of Zoro's weapons and knocked him back to the ground. "You're too weak, stupid swordsman," He had replied.

The fencer had struggled to regain the upper hand and Sanji had had to flatten himself against the galley door to avoid one of his blades. Taking advantage of the opportunity, Zoro had jumped on him and dragged him down when the door had shattered under their weight. They both got up quickly, furious not to prevail over the other.

"This is stupid", The cook had said, putting his clothes in order, "I know I'm worthy, I don't need your opinion."

He had been so fucking tired. This guy was unbearable and he was literally fuming just watching him.

"You give up?" The swordsman had asked, interested.

"Not even in your dreams!"

The cook had sent him a burst of kicks and Zoro had protected himself as best he could before replying with swords in his direction. At the end, the blade had touched Sanji's jacket and he had jumped at the contact too close to his arm. Furious, he had thrown a chair at the swordsman who had had no choice but to cut it before it reached him.

"Shitty swordsman! A brand-new jacket!" He had yelled, rushing at him again.

Zoro had frowned, surprised. Sanji had been blinded by anger and he had reacted openly, something that wasn't like him. He had lost all his composure and the swordsman had only had to give him a slight trip to take advantage of it. The blond had lost his balance and Zoro had held him prisoner against the wall, his sword against his throat.

"You're slacking, dart brow", He had noticed with a satisfied smile.

Sanji had remained hysterical and the sword against his neck hadn't calmed him down. He had gesticulated and hurled the worst insults at the swordsman who had finally removed his blade, put it away, and put a hand on the cook's mouth with a scowl.

"Fucking hell, can't you just shut up?" He had growled, "You're such a sore loser."

Sanji had stopped after several minutes. He had had no air with the swordsman's hand preventing him from breathing and from which he couldn't get free but his eyes had carried on threatening him with the worst possible pain. Finally, Zoro had removed his hand and the cook had been able to catch his breath, panting.

That was when the unthinkable had happened. The swordsman had replaced his hand with his mouth on his lips, pressing him even more violently against the wall. And then, as unlikely as it could be, Sanji had returned his gesture.

If Zoro was thinking he would give up by dragging him towards the unknown, he was barking up the wrong tree. Whatever the provocation, he would always answer. His ego wouldn't allow him to lose even the smallest ground in front of his opponent. Death was preferable to retreating in front of the marimo head.

Another battle had begun, still for the power of one over the other. Zoro had used his weight to hold him against the wall but Sanji had managed to destabilize him by biting him hard on his lip, which had made Zoro step back, looking annoyed, a trickle of blood dripping from his mouth.

The cook had taken the opportunity to roughly push him to the opposite wall, taking control. While their tongues had resumed their battle, Sanji had lowered his hands against the wall on either side of the swordsman's waist to keep him at his mercy. However, when he had ventured to kiss and bite his neck, Zoro had put his hands under his shirt and the contact that had electrified him, making him lose the upper hand. The swordsman had wrapped his arms around his waist to hold him before pushing him back abruptly until the blonde had hit the table with his back. He had then propelled himself against him, throwing him over the wooden surface and imprisoning him under his body.

At this time, Sanji had remembered that he had already lost a fight and that he didn't want a second defeat. He had therefore used his hands against the swordsman's back to scratch him and get free while their mouths were savagely meeting again. Yet when he saw Zoro getting rid of his tee-shirt and pulled off his own shirt and tie before throwing himself at his chest, he had thought that perhaps, the winner wasn't the one he believed.

And he had begun to lose himself in more pleasant sensations despite the swordsman's bites on his belly and his hands which prevented him from moving. He had lost all notion of time until Zoro had suddenly helped him up to get rid of the last of his clothes before pushing him back on the table. His naked skin had suffered from the rough contact of the wood against his back and he had risen up, furious at himself for being so passive and so receptive at the same time.

The fencer had seemed as disconnected from the world as him, which had reassured him somehow. Focused, the desire that was darkening Zoro's gaze had made him bestial and directive, reinforcing their sense of competition.

The need to measure each other had not left them for a second. This fight of a different kind was still a matter of honor.

No one had backed down.

*End of flash-back*

Sanji emerged from his thoughts, blushing. In vain he recounted the events in his mind, he didn't understand what had happened and even if Zoro had incited the hostilities, he couldn't say that he had left without further. His anger didn't explain everything, neither did their rivalry, and he was now terribly uncomfortable. No idea like that had ever crossed his mind, either with the swordsman or with a man.

Did his need to compete with his rival go so far? To the point of letting himself go down that road? To the point of taking the risk of twisting their rocky relationship a little more?

Focused on his desire to not lose face, he had been under the spell of Zoro's abrupt caresses that had gradually given way to pleasure. When Sanji had realized it, his body was eagerly demanding the body of his crewmate and his reason had disappeared.

The blond clenched his teeth. The fencer had won on all counts. Again. He had taken control, he had taken ownership of the cook's body, imposing his place and his rhythm. Sanji had just thought of questioning him when he had seen that he wasn't taking any precautions at the fateful moment and Zoro had simply pointed out in a hoarse voice that Chopper was monitoring them enough not to worry. And he had taken his word for it.

It was downright scary when he was thinking about it and he wondered for a moment whether or not he had been poisoned or bewitched. However, the most logical hypothesis being often the best, he had to admit that they had certainly gotten carried away by their emotions and that they had been in uncharted territory.

On top of that, this territory was painful and Sanji sighed while gently stretching his back. He had thought he was going to faint this morning when he had straightened up but he preferred to grit his teeth rather than someone noticing anything.

Nevertheless, it was a shooting pain which was twisting his back. He should have expected it remembering what he had first felt but the tension he was feeling at that moment had needed an end. At the time, Zoro had compelled him to calm down, pinning his arms to prevent him from moving. Initially rebelling against this attitude he had taken for a further dominance, Sanji had attempted to struggle in all directions despite the pain.

The fencer had strengthened his grip on him and had focused his impenetrable gaze onto his own, finally making him stop. They had remained still for a few moments, breathing short and painful for the blond who had gradually realized that the suffering was flowing back. Zoro had then started to move and the next few minutes had been so delicious that Sanji had forgotten what he was imposing on himself…

Being back to reality had been just as brutal as everything else. After the wave of pleasure that had submerged them, they had suddenly realized what had just happened and especially, with whom. Zoro had lost no time and he had disappeared as soon as he had found his clothes, only glancing at him once. Sanji had had a hard time straightening up, and an even harder time accepting what they had shared. He had slipped on his own clothes with mechanical gestures before trying to put things to rights in the room.

Sighing, the cook slowly walked towards his galley to begin preparations for the next meal. At least, the swordsman hadn't acted weirdly towards him since yesterday. Sanji felt almost relieved when, for once, he had suffered Nami's recriminations for their childish behavior when she discovered the ship's condition. Zoro obtained permission from a desperate Chopper to resume a normal life.

This string of events remained incomprehensible for the cook and he was eager to banish it from his memory. He didn't imagine for a second that this episode was anything other than a moment of confusion on his part and seeing the swordsman's behavior, he seemed to have the same opinion. Fortunately.

The same evening, Nami announced during dinner that they would reach the next island the next day. An autumnal or even winter island judging by the actual weather. Fishman Island was no longer on the agenda since the storm they had suffered three days earlier had thrown them several hundred kilometers away from their trajectory after several necessary Coups de Burst for their survival.

True to his optimism, the captain had decreed that it was Grand Line adventures' destiny and that they would enter the New World by another way to better find the island later. The cook and the skeleton had been the most disappointed not to meet the sirens (that they imagined were each more beautiful than the last), but finally got caught up in Luffy's enthusiasm.

Robin explained to them that Nerwa's Island was a hilly and mountainous island whose population was gathered on the coasts where temperatures were milder. Normally, there was nothing special except a small Marine base that it would be necessary to avoid during the time the Log Pose recharges.

When the night fell, Sanji settled down on the deck as he had first watch. He wasn't going to be catching up on his sleep any time soon and he was drooping with exhaustion. He didn't like the cold because it stiffened his aching muscles but it also helped him stay awake as he slumped onto the seat behind the helm. He took out a cigarette and lit it before bringing it to his lips. The sea was calm and the stars sparkled in the sky.

He should have felt good with his friends on the Sunny but he was feeling melancholic. Nights like those were reminding him of the hours he had spent gazing at the stars, marooned with that shitty geezer Zeff in the middle of the sea. And that inevitably brought him back to his dream.

The All Blue. Would he only have a chance to catch sight of it, busy sailing on the Grand Line or fighting for his life? And at the same time, where else could he look for it? And with who? Certainly, the straw hat crewmembers were the best to accompany him in this quest. What other crew could boast of members with such unusual dreams?

Usopp and his ambitions of courage and glory.

Nami and her pencil, ready to assault the world map.

Zoro and his willpower to be the best swordsman.

Chopper and his wish to cure all diseases.

Robin and her hope to discover history through a lost language.

Franky and his desire to travel the seas on his creation.

Brook and his determination to see a whale again.

And of course, Luffy and his obsession to become King of the Pirates.

Actually, discovering a legendary ocean didn't seem so difficult in the midst of all those unlikely objectives…

Sanji wrapped himself up a little more in the blanket he had brought. Yes, if he were to find the All Blue one day, it would be with these degenerates.

His family.