"It's finished." The mayor of the Island of Human Objects said, nodding in approval. Law stared at the boat.

"That is the most horrifying thing I've ever seen in my entire life." Law stated, taking in the number of interlocking humans clinging together into the shape of a boat.

"It is our greatest achievement. The human-boat. Now, once you've brushed your teeth, let's go." The mayor offered his bristly hair.

"I'm fine! Did you prepare what I asked for?"

"Yes, they are already on the ship."

"Good… Let's depart."

"Just so we are clear… who are we allowed to attack?" Usopp asked as they headed out of the room and down the hallway. Sanji didn't look amused. Usopp took a step behind Luffy.

"Is your grandma evil?" Luffy added seriously.

"Any evil pets we should know about? Dogs? Cats? Hamsters?"

"Dogs can't be evil."

"Of course they can, I fought an evil dog once. Though technically I guess it was a gun that ate a devil fruit that made it into a dog…"

"Don't lie."

"It really happened!"

"It's a good question." Zoro spoke up before Sanji hit the other two. "We don't know what's going to happen, and we need to know our enemy well. Ichiji is obviously a terrible human being, and Yonji is taken care of. What about the others?"

"….Niji is cut from the same cloth as Ichiji. If he attacks you can attack back. My father too." Sanji replied.

"What about your sister, Reiju? She brought me food… and actually, gave me a bit of a hint about everything now that I think about it."

"Did she?" Sanji looked thoughtful. "She never was as bad as the others, helpful to me even… when I was a kid."

"Alright, we won't touch her then either. Got that guys? Leave the girl alone, everyone else is fair game." Zoro grinned. Luffy and Usopp saluted in response. "Oh, and Kuino is mine."

"How you going to fight him without your swords?" Usopp asked, realizing they were absent from her side.

"If we don't find them, I'll just use Law's sword." Zoro said as she reached for the sword in Sanji's hand. He held it away from her and she looked at him questioningly.

"You're going to ruin your arms if you fight him like that." Sanji told her, and Zoro stopped abruptly.

"Wait, what? Are you telling me not to fight?" She asked angrily. Sanji looked at her and reached up, patting her head.

"No. I'm saying don't ruin your arms. How are you going to become the greatest swordsman if your arms are permanently damaged?" She frowned at that, confused for a moment before seeing the sword in his hand and understanding. She nodded.

"…Got it." She looked up into his eyes. "Be careful though." Sanji nodded in return.

Usopp and Luffy glanced at one another and back at the couple, not exactly sure what they were getting at.

It seemed their timing was quite good. They arrived downstairs on the main floor of the castle just after the dinner shift and their enemies were well fed and ready to go. Sanji rested the long sword over his shoulder as he stared down his remaining family members in the grand hall.

Kuino and a group of marines were also present, wiping ketchup off their mouths and pulling out various weapons. He noticed the sword in Sanji's hand and stepped forward, drawing his own.

"Shall I dispose of him, Judge?" He asked the father of the Vinsmoke family who stood imposingly above the others. Ichiji nudged the man aside however.

"He's my prey, get your own. We have a fight to finish." The red-haired Vinsmoke said as he pointed an accusing finger towards his brother. Sanji watched the exchange, staying silent. Zoro stepped forward though.

"You're mine, Kuino. It's about time we settled this."

Usopp and Luffy glanced at one another, then at Sanji's father, who was massive.

"U-uh… after you, Captain." Usopp gestured towards the man.

"Seems you've already gotten yourself hurt." Ichiji laughed. "How pathetic, brother. Now your chances of defeating me are in the negative percentages… You should've just been a good boy and committed nicely to our kingdom."

"I don't need my legs to defeat you." Sanji replied, pulling the sheath off of Law's sword and tossing it aside. He widened his stance and held the sword out in front of him. Ichiji raised an eyebrow.

"Oh ho. A sword? Weren't you prattling on about not using your hands? Can't even hold onto your own principles?" Ichiji held out his hand and a random marine ran over and placed a sword in it.

"These hands are to cook for those I love, that's true. But if by me not using them, I lose my friends… what kind of friend would I be?" Sanji responded before he dashed forward and swung his sword, and it clang loudly as it smashed into Ichiji's.

"Ha! You're such a wuss, you'll never get anywhere by clinging so desperately to people."

"I'd argue the opposite." Sanji pushed his brother back forcefully and they exchanged blows.

"Then why can't you defeat me?"

"I can." Sanji stated calmly as they pulled back, preparing for the next round of attacks. Sanji took in a deep breath and raised his sword up vertically. "Dragon Quake." Sanji dashed quickly at his brother and brought his sword down at him.

Zoro's jaw dropped. She had nearly forgotten about her own opponent while seeing Sanji fighting with a sword. Not only was he using his hands, but he was actually pretty good. Not as good as her of course, but better than a lot of other swordsman she'd seen. There was also something else she noticed from the fight. His stance, the way he moved, his techniques…. They were a little clumsy but…. They were definitely hers. He was copying her style. He was even copying her attacks.

"Dumbass." She muttered to herself, grinning widely. She looked back over at Kuino. It was strange almost. She had spent most of her life hating this man for his attitude towards her as a child. For how much he belittled her and how he looked down at women. But… though she tried to hold onto that anger, looking at him now, he just seemed pathetic to her. He no longer seemed intimidating to her. She didn't need to prove anything to him. He wasn't worth it.

"Are you done? I'd rather we finish this quickly." Kuino stated, lifting his sword towards her.

"Let's do this." Zoro made the first move, running at her opponent and aiming a kick at his stomach. Kuino blocked it swiftly with the side of his sword. She watched him, her arms swinging worthlessly at her side, playing through all the times she fought against Sanji in her head. Predicting how Kuino would react to physical attacks, and how Sanji would counter her own.

"Feet? How barbaric." Kuino mumbled, slicing at her legs. She jumped over the attack and dove forward, landing on her hands so that she could swing her legs around and she landed a solid kick at Kuino's face, making the man stumble back. Her arms gave out, unable to hold her own weight due to her injuries, but she was able to turn it into a roll and swiftly got back to her feet.

"Okay, now… Sanji would use fire…" She looked down at her legs. She glared at them. No fire. "Crap crap crap… uhh… " She looked around, then suddenly remembered she had Sanji's lighter from before.

"Sorry, sorry, one sec." Zoro said as she quickly lit her pantleg on fire. "Fire—crap what does he call his technique—uh, fiery chicken leg!" Zoro shouted as she swung her flame encased leg at the man.

"Did Zoro just light herself on fire?" Usopp asked, watching the battles, sitting next to his captain. There wasn't enough room for another fight so they were patiently waiting their turns.

"That's so cool…" Luffy gawked.

Sanji didn't have the luxury of being able to watch his partner's fight, as Ichiji was proving himself quite capable and kept the cook on his toes. Sanji certainly wasn't as strong with his arms, and nowhere near as strong as Zoro with a sword, but he wasn't bad either. He had to keep his whole body in shape for both fighting and cooking. He parred another blow from his brother, when they both were distracted by the sight of flames off to the side. Both brothers looking over to see two people on fire, running towards the door, and various others running to get out of their way.

One of the curtains caught flame.

Using the distraction, Sanji quickly landed another strong blow to his brother, causing the man to crash backwards into a group of marines.

"Sanji! That was Zoro!" Usopp called out to the cook as both him and Luffy ran for the exit as more things started to catch on fire. Startled, Sanji ran after the flaming body, grabbing the coat off of a random marine on his way. Funny, he could no longer feel the pain in his foot as he dashed for the flaming body and pounced on it, encircling it with the coat to try and extinguish the flames. He took off his own coat and beat the body until the flames were smothered out. He pulled the body into his arms.

"Zoro! Zoro… can you hear me?!" He asked, panicking down at the charred face. The charred face with two eyes. He blinked. He dropped the body and it groaned as it hit the ground.

He looked wildly around and finally spotted Zoro walking towards him. She was soaking wet, coughing, missing an alarming amount of clothing, but seemed to be mostly alright besides some mild burns. He let out a sigh of relief and staggered over to her, pulling her into his arms tightly and kissing the top of her head.

"Did you take Ichiji down?" She asked, trying to look around him, still very aware of the position they were in.

"Yeah, and it looks like you burnt your opponent to a crisp. What the hell did you do?!" He pulled back slightly to look at her, then turned bright red at the fact that the fire had burned away anything that had covered her chest. He immediately pulled off his shirt and tried to wrap it around her.

"Just borrowed your technique. Had to improvise a bit though." Zoro grinned at him and tried to push his shirt away. "It's fine, it'll just get in the way anyway."

"It's not fine. Everyone can see your b-breasts!" Sanji whispered hoarsely and tried to help her put her arms through the sleeves.

"Quit it, it'll just irritate the burns more."

"Sorry, but I don't want my disgusting family to see you." Sanji compromised and tied the sleeves around under her armpits and knotted in the back, leaving her arms free but at least covering her chest. She rolled her eyes.

"H-hey, guys, don't mean to butt in… but Sanji's dad doesn't look very happy… and his entire castle is burning to the ground." Usopp said as he bounded over to them. The two looked over, and sure enough, Judge looked pretty pissed off and the remaining marines were cracking their knuckles and trying to look menacing.

Sanji sighed, looking tired yet again. Zoro patted her tattered pants for his cigarettes, but realized they must've burnt up in the fire. So instead she reached over and slipped her hand into his, giving it a squeeze. He squeezed her hand back as a thanks as he stared his father down.

"Now!" Shouted a new voice suddenly. The strawhats, marines, and Vinsmokes all looked towards the voice to see the most unusual sight.

Law was standing on the backs of several people, who were running together, carrying him like a chariot. His arm was outstretched in command and another large group of people started to rush towards the Vinsmokes and marines, and they started interlocking their limbs together, creating a large net to encompass them. The disturbed marines shrieked in terror at the smiling facing of the human-net as they latched onto them.

"Room." Law said as he jumped off of his human chariot and in an impressive roll, grabbed his abandoned sword before raising his hand towards the Vinsmokes. "Shambles."

In an instant, Judge, a battered Ichiji and Niji collapsed to their knees, their eyes vacant. Law stood and brushed off his pants, surveying his work.

"He seems almost unreal, doesn't he…" Usopp noted.

"Hey! Law! You're back! That was so cool!" Luffy shouted, running over to the man who looked to have aged ten years since they last saw him.

"I just came back for my sword." Law replied.

"Aw, don't lie. Welcome abroad." Luffy grinned and held out his hand. Law ignored him. Sanji walked over to the man though, pulling Zoro along.

"What did you do to them?" The cook asked, nodding towards his family members, who started yowling.

"Oh right, we should get rid of them!" Luffy gave them a thumbs up before running towards the Vinsmokes.

"Wait, no! Strawhat-ya STOP!" Law suddenly shouted. But it was too late. Luffy had charged up his massive fist and aimed a punch at the Vinsmokes, sending them flying off into the sky. The others watched as they flew out of sight. Law dropped his head into his hands in frustration.

"Got em!" Luffy said happily as he trotted back over.

"That wasn't the Vinsmokes…" Law groaned. "I switched them with the mayor's pets…"

"FIDO! SPOT! FLUFFY!" The mayor was sobbing in the background, having had to watch his beloved dogs get punted into the far unknown.

"You switched their souls with dogs?" Sanji asked, looking around and seeing some really disgruntled looking pugs tied to a leash a few meters away. "Huh… seems like a fitting punishment to me."

"I never liked dogs." A feminine voice spoke from behind them. They looked over to see Sanji's sister, Reiju, dragging Yonji behind her.

"Hey, thanks for the water." Zoro grinned at her. Reiju shrugged lightly and noticed their intertwined hands.

"Just don't cause any more trouble, brother." She walked past them towards the pugs, but gave a discreet pat on her brother's arm, causing him to smile.

"Wouldn't dream of it."

It was safe to say that the Thousand Sunny would need to restock its alcohol stores very quickly. After returning and recounting their adventures, the crew partook in a large celebration and drank the evening away. One thing Zoro realized immediately was just how blatantly touchy Sanji was, and she didn't think the alcohol had anything to do with it. If he wasn't holding her hand, he was touching her arm, her back, her hair. Even when he was cooking their dinner, he kept glancing over at her.

After stuffing herself with as much food and drink as possible, she got up to use the bathroom only to realize Sanji had stood up well. He was stopped by Franky's hand though.

"She'll be fine, just give her a minute bro." The shipwright assured him, and Sanji had the grace to look embarrassed before sitting back down at the table.

She returned quickly, sitting down next to him and bumping her knee against his before engaging in a drinking contest with Nami. They partied late into the night and people were starting to pass out from exhaustion. Luffy was conked out, face down onto his empty plate. Robin and Usopp had retired to their beds. Nami had finally given in and was dozing slightly, her head propped up on her hand. Law was sitting in the corner, leaning back against the wall, his eyes closed. Chopper had long since fell asleep, sprawled out on the floor and Franky was picking him up to take him back to the bunks. Brook also got up to retire, but he paused next to the two of them.

"You two have had a difficult jour-knee. You're both injured, so take it easy. Yohoho~" Brook told the cook before heading off to bed. Zoro frowned, not really getting what he was implying, but Sanji did and threw a fork at the skeleton who marrowly escaped it and skipped off to bed. Zoro let out a loud yawn.

"Well, I'm ready to crash." She said, pushing away from the table to stand up, but she was caught by Sanji's arm that had wrapped around her waist. "Sanji." She warned, craning her neck to look at the cook.

"Sorry… I don't want you to go yet." He mumbled, maintaining his grip around her and leaning his forehead against her back. She frowned. He had been through so much these past few months, of course she couldn't expect him to be fine suddenly, no matter what face he showed to the others. She glanced around the room at the remaining crew members. She had a feeling that there could possibly be curious ears.

"Ok. Let's go to the crow's nest. I've been sleeping there recently so there's some blankets." She pushed herself up again and this time Sanji let her. She held her hand out to him and he took it, following her out onto the deck. Franky emerged from the boy's room, having just put Chopper in his bed. He simply smiled at the two of them, further embarrassing them, and waved them on their way.

Once in the crow's nest, Zoro yawned again and plopped down on her makeshift bed by the wall. She opened up her arms for him. He stared at her a moment before ignoring her arms and sitting down beside her and sliding his arm around her waist. She rolled her eye.

"Still too prideful to let me hold you, dartbrows?"

"If you knew what to do, I'd be more inclined to let you do what you want." He replied, pulling her into his lap.

"What the hell are you going on about?" She asked before noticing Sanji's hand inching its way upwards. She looked over her shoulder at him with a glare that promised death.

"I will cut it off." She warned, causing Sanji to suddenly laugh as his hand settled again at her waist. He hugged her tightly against his chest and settled his chin on her shoulder.

"If you cut off my hand, who would cook for you?"

"Who said I was talking about your hand?"

"Oh." Sanji winced, causing Zoro to giggle slightly. She turned her head and placed a kiss on his cheek. He smiled at her, reached up and slipping his fingers into her hair.

"I love you." He whispered before kissing her in return. After a few moments they found themselves laying back on the ground, intertwined, and the exhaustion from the day setting upon them as they fell asleep.

The next day consisted of the crew preparing to leave the island by stockpiling supplies for their trip and keeping an eye out for the marines from headquarters that had been called to clean up the mess of the mutiny. The people from the Island of Human-objects were a great help but the crew also had to keep an eye on Luffy who was trying to recruit every single one of them.

Zoro was currently on the deck, doing sit ups, having been barred from physically lifting anything by Chopper until her arms were in better condition. She thought this was preposterous, as everyone knew that working out helped you heal faster. But, the deer was incredibly persistent and the crew had gone through so much lately that she gave in.

Sanji was in charge of checking the food stocks and making sure everything was locked in its place and not eaten by Luffy before it was stored away. He was moving back and forth between the kitchen and the dock, checking things off on his list, and this also allowed him to keep an eye on Zoro as well.

This constant monitoring was starting to get on Zoro's nerves, but she didn't say anything. She knew the man was still recovering from months of mental abuse so she was giving him leeway. He seemed to especially be having trust issues and was double checking everything constantly. She wanted to help in some sort of way but didn't know how. So, for now she just went along with it.

He wasn't doing anything particularly wrong, and the attention he gave her did indeed make her feel loved, even if it was a bit awkward for her at first. But the thing that worried her was the type of look he gave her every now and then. She caught fear or panic in his eyes at time before he smoothly masked over it with a smile.

However, it seemed it was extending from not only herself, but the other crew members as well. Usopp was carrying a large barrel full of salt onto the ship when his hand slipped, and the barrel dropped onto his foot. He let out a startled yelp and grabbed his foot, hopping from the pain. Sanji, who had been checking the salt off on his grocery list, paled immediately and ran over to the marksman and scooped the man up into his arms. Alarmed, Usopp started flailing in the cook's arms.

"H-hey! Put me down! What are you doing?" Usopp asked, clearly embarrassed. But Sanji ignored his cries and swiftly kicked open the door to the infirmary, surprising Chopper who was going over his own stocks.

"W-what's wrong?!" Chopper asked, panicked.

"Hurry! He smashed his foot!" Sanji set the confused Usopp onto the cot and tapped his foot impatiently at the doctor. Chopper looked at Usopp who had already calmed down and seemed no longer in pain. Usopp shrugged lightly.

"Uh, just dropped something on my foot… doesn't really hurt anymore, sure it's fine." He replied, glancing up at Sanji's gritted teeth.

"Well… it wouldn't hurt to look at it anyway." Chopper replied as Usopp took off his shoe to show a fairly normal looking foot.

"Are you sure? Maybe there's internal damage. He could have cut the nerves or something, and he could never walk again." Sanji insisted, causing Usopp to pale considerably and start to panic himself.

"Is that true?! Are we going to have to amputate my foot?!" Usopp asked, looking at Chopper who quickly waved his hooves and shook his head.

"No, no! It's fine! Really!" Chopper replied, looking between the two panicked men, and was panicking himself over the whole situation. They were saved when an arm looped around one of Sanji's and pulled him from the room.

"I'll take care of this, just look him over just in case, Chopper!" Nami called as she pulled the cook back and shut the door behind them. She pushed the cook towards the kitchen.

"I sure am hungry from all this work, why don't you make us some sandwiches?" She cooed, and Sanji was torn from wanting to please her and the incident that just occurred.

"Of course, Nami-swan, right after—"

"Zoro just finished her workout and is ravenous, it's not nice to keep a girl waiting." Nami replied smoothly and Sanji hesitated but then turned and headed back for the kitchens. She sighed and glanced over as Robin walked over, having witnessed the whole event.

"He sure is excitable now, isn't he?" Robin noted, closing her book.

"Do you think it'll get better or worse?" Nami asked, frowning.

"Perhaps we can give him a bit of push in the right direction at least. Let's have a talk with Doctor-san and our swordsman."

"I know you eat a lot, but this is impressive even for you." Sanji said as he and Zoro carried several large picnic baskets off the Thousand Sunny.

"Are you doubting my ability?" Zoro asked, swinging the basket away from him as he tried to take it from her hands again.

"I just worry we'll have to restock again before we leave." Sanji teased as they walked off the dock towards the town. There, waiting for them was a carriage made up of interlocking, smiling, people, being pulled by more people. Sanji immediately turned back towards the boat before Zoro blocked him.

"You said you wanted to go on a date." She accused.

"Yes, alone, and not on that horror show…" Sanji replied, gesturing to said abomination.

"It's not far, let's just go." Zoro set her baskets onto the backs of several of the people before climbing in. Sanji stared.

"Damn it, fine, but I refuse to sit!" He said finally, stepping into the carriage.

After about ten minutes of riding, Sanji grew silent, recognizing the route. He looked over at Zoro and shook his head.

"I can't." He said simply. She took his hand.

"We'll do it together."

The carriage slowed down to a stop and Zoro stepped off, tugging Sanji after her. There, in a clearing, stood a single grave. He resisted once again, but Zoro pulled harder and brought the man to his mother's grave. Seeing that Sanji was unable to speak, Zoro bowed respectfully.

"Er, hi. I'm Zoro. I'm Sanji's—"

"Girlfriend!" Shouted a voice as Luffy jumped out of one of the surrounding trees.

"Lover!" Usopp snickered, dropping out as well. Sanji looked up surprised as the entire crew came out of hiding to approach the grave. He looked uncertain, and a bit uncomfortable, but faced the grave.

"The world's greatest swordsman…The person I'm in love with." Sanji said, ignoring the childish jabs at them. Zoro blushed slightly and scowled to try and disguise it.

"Yeah, that. Nice to meet you. Sorry I couldn't introduce myself earlier, we've been a bit busy." Zoro added.

"Yeah, busy making out." Usopp jabbed.

"Is that all they were doing up in the crow's nest? Perhaps they were bone-" Brook inquired but was cut off sharply from a punch from Nami.

"Nice to meet you, Sora! I've heard only wonderful things about you!" Nami said, stepping up. "We're so thankful for how you raised Sanji here… he's been so hopeful to us."

"And he makes the best food!" Luffy said.

"And he's attacks are SUPER!"

"He's so kind!"

"He always protects his crewmates."

"He's extremely handsome!"

"He has twirly eyebrows!"

"And he takes too long in the bathroom!"

Sensing they were getting a bit off subject, Robin stepped up and placed her hand on his arm.

"And we love him." She said, smiling.

"Yeah, Sanji, I love you!" Luffy called, wrapping his arms around the man in a tight hug.

"Love you bro!" Franky ruffled the cook's hair.

"We love you." Brook patted his back.

"Ahhh Sanji I love you!" Chopper cried, hugging the cook's leg.

"We love you Sanji." Nami leaned up and kissed his cheek.

"Yeah, I love you!" Usopp punched his arm lightly. There was a slight pause as they saw Law standing off to the side looking extremely uncomfortable.

"Uh, yeah. Ditto." He replied before Luffy slung his rubber arms out wide around them all and crushed them all into a massive group hug, causing the crew to burst into laughter.

"You're such a crybaby." Zoro said, smiling up at Sanji who couldn't contain it all and tears were streaming down his face. She reached up and used her sleeves to wipe his face.

"I love you." She said, beaming at his wet scrunched up face before wrapping her arms around his neck and kissing him.

"Nami-swan~! Here is your nice ice-cold drink!" Sanji said, twirling over to the girl and setting it down, the only thing absent was the usual hearts in his eyes. Instead, they held only respect and admiration. "And Robin-chan!" He set the second drink down to the thanks of the two.

"Bring out any meat?" Zoro asked, the chatter awaking her from her nap in the corner. Sanji waved his tray tauntingly at her, where there was a ham sandwich that was more meat than it was sandwich.

"For you my love~" He said, smiling at her. She grinned and reached for it, only for him to pull it out of her reach.

"What the hell? Gimme that, cook." She said, standing and swiping for the food once again.

"The price is one kiss." He returned, waving the tray back and forth.

"W-what?! Like hell I'm going to do that, everyone's watching!" She replied angrily.

"No kiss, no food." He teased, jumping back just in time as Zoro aimed a kick at the cook. "Oh~ You're getting good at that. But too bad, kicking is my area of expertise. You'll never hit me if you're that slow." Zoro lunged at the man and they dissolved into a sparing match, slightly to Sanji's disadvantage due to him trying to balance the tray of food.

"They're quite cute together, eh, Nami-san?" Robin asked as she sipped at her drink. Nami rolled her eyes.

"They're both still idiots." She replied.

Zoro and Sanji faced off on opposite sides of the deck, staring each other down. Zoro drew one sword and almost lazily started walking towards the man. Sanji smirked and waved the food back and forth.

Suddenly, she had an idea. She dashed at the man and swung the backside of her sword at him, who blocked it with his leg. Now close to the cook, she leaned up and whispered into his ear.

Sanji immediately turned red and dropped the tray into a waiting Zoro's hands. She immediately devoured it while Sanji melted into a little puddle on the deck.

"Love you too~"

The End

AN: Wow, I can't believe it's finally over. I never thought I could write a fanfiction, let alone one so long! But it was so much fun and I think I learned a lot while writing this story. I really want to say thanks to everyone who reviewed or read this story. I know there were a lot of lurkers, and I want to really thank you all too for taking the time to read through everything! If anyone wants to chat or keep in touch, or just talk One Piece, i'll put my contacts in my profile.

I really enjoyed writing this story so I think it's safe to say that I'll be writing another one, but I'm not sure when. First I want to go over and rewrite and edit this one. I have a lot of ideas so it'll be interesting.

I'm sad to say goodbye to Sanji and Zoro, I feel like they've really become my own version of the characters, so it was so fun helping them grow and change over time. My one regret is that I wasn't able to bring Bepo back haha!

Again, I can't explain my thanks enough to everyone who read this story! If you'd like to leave a review, I'd appreciate it. Did you have a favorite moment in the story? Did you think I was faithful to the One Piece universe? Was there anything you found was awkward or unnecessary? All comments appreciated! And thanks again! :)