Zoro honestly didn't really know what was going on. After being abandoned by Usopp, she had been immediately captured when they arrived on the island that Nami had gone to. Nami was seemingly a traitor, but then she saved Zoro's life and wandered off. Zoro defeated her kidnappers in less than five minutes, then got lost trying to find Usopp again.
Then she was hit by a boat crashing down out of the sky.
"Oh look, it's Zoro!" Luffy called out as the boat skidded to a stop. He jumped out and grinned down at his first mate. "You're looking better than before."
"Why the hell did you come from the sky?!" Zoro asked as she wiped the blood away from her new head wound.
"Coming to bring back Nami. Wait, you haven't done it yet?" The captain tsked, shaking his head.
"He only has meat in his head. I'll persuade her, Captain." Sanji replied, straightening his tie.
"I don't know what's going on! She is apparently part of the Arlong pirates, but then she saved my life." Zoro explained.
"She's obviously being blackmailed then. There's no way someone that beautiful is a bad person." Sanji replied, waving his hand.
"Yeah." Luffy agreed, crossing his arms. "All her mail is black. From bad people."
"…I see." Zoro nodded.
"…How did you two survive before her?" Sanji sighed.
The group headed over to meet with the fishmen of the Arlong Pirate group. Luckily, they met up with Usopp along the way who filled them in with Nami's backstory. Her loyalties settled, there was just one more thing to do. It was time to destroy the Arlong pirate group.
The group split to take out the enemies. Luffy aimed for the head pirate Arlong, while Zoro and Sanji found themselves back to back once again, facing off against two of the henchmen. Usopp was providing, kinda, ranged support.
"De ja vu, eh, idiot swordsman?" Sanji asked, grinning as he knocked his enemy back with a strong kick.
"Don't distract me with your flapping mouth, dumbbrows." Zoro shot back, her swords clanging against her enemy's. She was panting as she forced him back.
"Tired already?" The cook asked, glancing over his shoulder at her. He wavered when he saw her shirt was newly soaked with blood and dripping to the ground in large quantities. Her wound from Mihawk had reopened and was taking its toll on her.
"Don't lose focus!" She yelled back at him, twisting on her heel towards him and slicing at Sanji's enemy who was trying to take advantage of his distracted state. The movement brought them face to face once again. Zoro's eyes were half lidded and her forehead dropped to his shoulder. Sanji instinctively wrapped his arm around her to hold her up.
"Hold on moss brains, we're almost finished." Sanji murmured in her ear.
"I can't… lose again…" Zoro breathed, struggling to stay conscious.
"You were half dead before the fight started and still managed to take out practically their entire group." Sanji said flatly.
The squid enemy had paused his swords and exchanged glances with his friend. He coughed in his hand.
"Uh, are we interrupting something?" He enemy asked, watching the two in a semi-embrace. Zoro had passed out and Sanji was holding her up with both arms now. He flushed.
"S-shut up!" Sanji laid Zoro gently down on the ground and with a quick handstand was able to kick both enemies flying. Satisfied that they were out for the count, he kneeled next to Zoro as Usopp came running over from his hiding spot to help.
"His wound reopened and he's losing a lot of blood." Sanji told the long-nosed man and reached over to check the wound. Usopp grabbed his hand to stop him.
"No, wait. You'll expose his third nipple." Usopp replied with a very serious expression.
"I don't ca-wait, WHAT?" Sanji cringed back.
Zoro was patched up by a local doctor after all the chaos had settled down. It wasn't easy though, with people shouting warnings of turning into stone and secrets. Luffy managed to assure the others that Zoro would be okay alone with the doctor and they had an impromptu feast in celebration of the freeing of the town. Afterwards they took turns checking on the swordsman, but she merely slept the day away.
The next day saw the group finally boarding their ship all together with the addition of a few tangerine trees. Zoro was ordered to get as much rest as possible and not do any strenuous activity. So naturally, she was lifting weights the moment she was out of the doctor's eyesight.
The newly formed crew was in high spirits, finally on their way to the grand line. Sanji had taken it upon himself to become the guard dog of Nami's precious trees and kicked anyone who so as much stepped on their shadow.
Usopp was the first to discover this as he was sketching on the deck of the ship and his pencil rolled towards the trees. That same pencil was implanted into the deck dangerously close to Usopp's hand a moment later.
Zoro was the second to discover this as she walked past them, brushing against their branches. Sanji's knee implanted itself into her back and she stumbled forward from the contact.
"The hell!?" She turned on the cook, grabbing his collar.
"How dare you touch Miss Nami's beautiful trees! They're going to smell like your sweat now!" Sanji replied, grabbing her collar in return.
"You're such a tool." Zoro shoved him back.
"You're just jealous Miss Nami won't give you the time of day!"
"I don't give a shit about that witch!"
"Oh please, she's the most beautiful woman in the world!"
"Are looks the only thing you care about? It's the inside that matters!"
"Well its too bad you're lacking in both areas, eh moss head?" Sanji replied cruelly, tugging on her green hair. It was only for a split second, but Sanji swore he saw hurt flash across the swordsman's face. Then everything went black as he received a punch to the face.
"Asshole." Zoro spat at the cook before going back to her weightlifting to let out her anger.
Sanji was really starting to get on Zoro's nerves. When they were fighting together, they seemed to get along quite well and were incredibly in sync. Sanji was very smart she realized, and even rivaled her in strength. However, outside of battle he was either drooling over Nami or picking a fight with her. It wasn't that she didn't trust him. In fact, she trusted enough to watch over the weaker crew members and have her back when needed. He just… made her feel uneasy.
It was because of this unease that she didn't choose to spend time with the cook. It seemed the man always found ways to pick a fight with her though.
So, it was to her greatest annoyance that when they landed on the next island that Sanji draped an arm across her shoulders as they got off the boat and headed into Loguetown.
"Gonna look for some new swords?" The cook asked. She pushed his arm off and started walking faster.
"Don't you need to go shopping for supplies?" Zoro asked, looking down at the map Nami had given her.
"Yeah, but I need your arms to carry it." Sanji replied, peering over her shoulder at the map.
"Pfft, you just want to annoy me." Zoro replied, turning right. Sanji's hand grabbed the top of her head lightly and turned her the opposite direction. She swatted at his hand.
"Now why would you think that?" He asked, grinning as he started pushing her in the right direction. She elbowed him in the stomach.
"Quit it, I know where I'm going!"
"Mmhmm… " He stopped her from walking into a wall. "Do you know how to read a map, Zoro?"
Zoro blushed and glared at him.
"I'm not an idiot! Look, we're supposed to turn right here!" Zoro replied stubbornly, pointing at the wall before them. Sanji crossed his arms, looking amused.
"Of course, please go ahead, I would love to see you walk through this wall." Sanji gestured towards the wall. Face burning, Zoro glanced at him then back at the wall. She drew her sword.
"Ah! No! You are NOT destroying this town!" Sanji yelled, grabbing her arm to stop her. As he turned her around, he caught her expression change to defensive as he heard heavy footsteps behind him. He looked over his shoulder to see two very large men walk up towards them. They had walked themselves into a secluded part of town, a dead end.
"Looks like we've got some lost tourists." The tall man said while grinning at his companion who was very large as well, but more from side to side.
"You look like you've got some money on you, prissy boy." The large man said as he grabbed Sanji by the front of his shirt and lifted him off the ground. Despite behind held up into the air, Sanji appeared quite calm. He reached into his pocked and pulled out a cigarette, lighting it.
"Giving up already? Smart man." The man grinned, shaking Sanji slightly. The cook grinned back, blowing out a few smoke rings.
"Watch out." Sanji simply said, confusing the two thieves. The man let go of Sanji suddenly as he caught a blow to the stomach with the back of a sword. The man flew backwards into the other thief as they crashed into the building behind them. Zoro put the sword back in its sheath and glared at Sanji.
"You could have handled that on your own." She accused.
"That was more of a fair fight." Sanji replied, chuckling. He waved his hand and started walking back down the alley.
"They were way too weak…" Zoro followed, finding herself pouting and then scowling.
"Here we are." Sanji led them to the swordsmith shop. Zoro muttered a quick thanks before brushing past him into the shop. Sanji grinned in return and followed her inside.
Zoro found herself smiling as she ran her fingers over the hilts of the various swords in the store. Sanji leaned against the wall, giving her room. Zoro took her time, pulling a sword out of a barrel every now and then and testing it out in her hands.
"How do you choose?" Sanji asked after a while. Zoro looked over at him startled, having forgotten he was still there.
"Well…" Zoro hesitated a moment, then waved him over to see the sword in her hands. "There are quite a few factors when choosing a good sword. Balance, flexibility, and strength are some of the most important… but there's also the feel." She handed him the sword and gestured for him to try it out. Sanji was no stranger to blades, but he preferred cooking with them. He drew the sword from its scabbard and tested it out in his hands before bending his knees and his body moved automatically into a combat stance. Zoro's eyes widened slightly. The stance was off a bit, and it was a common one, however she never pegged Sanji as a swordsman.
"Did you do learn the sword?" She asked, intrigued. Sanji straightened back up and handed her the sword.
"Hm… so what's your verdict on this one?" He changed the subject. Zoro tilted her head, suddenly curious about the cook's past. The way he automatically went into a sword stance upon instinct yet didn't fight with a sword confused her. She also somewhat recalled something about knowing about starvation… Sanji snapped his fingers in front of her face, making her jump.
"Huh? Oh! Uh, no, not this one. It seems too fragile for the amount of use it will get on the grand line." She replied, replacing it back in the barrel. After a few more minutes, she had successfully chosen two blades. The owner tried to dissuade her from buying them, as they were supposedly cursed, but he underestimated her stubbornness. After threatening him, the owner relented.
After collecting their swords and Zoro taking a nap while Sanji picked out their supplies for the ship, the two noticed a ruckus in the town square and headed over to check it out.
Both their jaws dropped when they saw Luffy atop the execution stand, locked into place. The sky had darkened, and lightening brewed in the distance. Nami and Usopp rushed over to them, carrying bags of clothing.
"Quick, get him down!" Nami yelled, grabbing Zoro's arm and pointing.
"Quick Zoro, flash them!" Usopp commanded, grabbing at Zoro's shirt.
"NO ONE WANTS TO SEE THAT!" Sanji yelled back, pulling Usopp off Zoro.
"ITS MY SECRET WEAPON!" Usopp yelled back.
"STOP FIGHTING AND GO SAVE LUFFY!" Nami punched them both.
Zoro eyed the stand. It was too far, they wouldn't get there in time especially with all the civilians in the way. Zoro pulled out one of her new swords and held it above her shoulder. She took a running start and threw the sword at the execution stand, aiming for the pirate about to cut off Luffy's head.
"AHH!" The blade instead stuck into the wood next to Luffy's head. Zoro gawked at her terrible aim.
"Are you trying to kill him FASTER!?" Nami screamed, whacking Zoro this time.
They watched on in horror as the blade dropped.