Author's Note: So I just went to the store and bought so much manga. Paid five bucks total, thank you gift-cards! It was 89 dollars worth so I'm pretty proud of myself. Got a lot of Naruto and Bleach, but since I have no paper copies of One Piece, I was like, "I don't think I'll have the money to order a three in one volume", cause by the time I realized I could, I had already bought my 5 manga books. But anyway, this chapter was really fun to write. This chapter was originally going to be chapter 23, then it was chapter 25, but then it went back to 23. There were supposed to be two chapters before this, but then I realized that those 2 chapters had no substance to them. The two chapters that originally didn't exist were actually chapters 19 and 20. So yeah, that happened. Now I highly recommend listening to The Last Night because I think it's a wonderful song, but the problem with writing yaoi, all romantic songs are basically about heterosexual couples so yeah ... Also, characters just seem to be getting more and more out of it the more I go. I really hope that I can be one of those people who can write a couple getting together and not ruin the story once they are together. I don't know, I think some authors do a beautiful job at building a relationship, but they suck at maintaining the chemistry. I hope I'm not one of those people! Was there anything else I wanted to say, besides that I don't own One Piece? Hmm ... Oh yeah! Suki and daisuki mean "like" and "really like" respectively, which translates to, "I like you" and "I really like you". This chapter might make you drown in fluff, as a fair warning. I'm closing my eyes and praying that this meets your standards for an amazing climatic chapter you've all been waiting for! I don't own Hetalia either. I watched my brother go shopping for his groceries. He bought like, 12 bowls of microwave ramen. I SO wanted to make a comment about Naruto, but I couldn't. I told him it was unhealthy though and felt like I was Sakura or something. I know Zoro changed his mind pretty fast, but anyway, such is life. I listened to The Last Night on repeat while writing this chapter. Yup, you should hear the whole song, I really love it and recommend it. I love Skillet.


Beautiful Disaster
By: Setkia


Full Summary

Sanji is the assistant cook of the world-renowned restaurant, the Baratie, the only restaurant like it in the world. He's a successful chef and flirts with the customers every chance he can get but there's a problem. It's all a facade. The cooks give a new meaning to the word "abusive", both mental and physical. The only thing keeping Sanji alive is his love for cooking and a good ol' pack of cigarettes.

Zoro Roronoa is a swordsman who suddenly has more change in his pocket than he expected and enters the Baratie by recommendation. His waiter happens to be a curly browed man with an adoration for cigarettes. An attempt speak to the head chef goes horribly wrong and he gets sucked into the crumbling world of the chef's, wondering how he can possibly save him and better yet, why does he want to save him in the first place?


Chapter 23: The Last Night

"This is the last night you'll spend alone
Look me in the eyes so I know you know
I'm everywhere you want me to be
This is the last night you'll spend alone
Hold you in my arms and I won't let go
I'm everything you need me to be
The last night away from me"

-The Last Night, Skillet


He was going to tell him. He swore to God, he was going to tell him.

It hadn't taken that long to decide. Just four months of knowing the cook, about two months of living with him, over a month of being in pain at unrequited love and one night of confessions to bring Zoro Roronoa to his knees, about to do the one thing he had only ever attempted to do once and that had gone over pretty well. Not.

It was just that night with Sanji, with him telling him all his secrets, he felt as though he was as close as he could possibly be to the blond. He liked to think that Sanji had wanted to kiss him, that he was disappointed that Zoro had pulled away. Zoro knew he had wanted to kiss him. So much, he really wanted to kiss him, but he didn't. Sanji would think it was out of pity or some other fucked up conclusion he was sure to draw.

He was going to tell him and he'd do it today. He'd figure out it. Somehow.


Attempt #1: Subtle Hinting


Time: 6:45 AM JST

Location: Shit-apartment

Zoro had forced himself up early. He knew that for some insane reason, Sanji seemed to get up early every morning and he wanted to start off the day on a good note. He didn't know what exactly he was planning to do, just that he would tell Sanji that he liked him. Maybe he was falling in love with him, maybe he was already in love with him— no, he wouldn't mention that, that would sound weird, wouldn't it? Zoro mentally shook his head. There was no reason to shock Sanji out of his wits so early in the morning.

He walked into the kitchen to see Sanji making breakfast. Waffles and sausages this morning. He pulled up a chair and waited for Sanji to take notice of him.

It was after a few minutes of humming to himself that the blond turned around to put a plate on the table that he spotted Zoro and nearly dropped the plate in his hand. He put it on the table and turned away from him, seeming stiff. "Morning, Zoro," he said. Even his voice was stiff.

Shit, did I screw up? What did I do?

Zoro sat up straighter in his chair and leaned forward towards Sanji. "Um, Sanji?" he asked in a quiet voice.

"What, Mr. Roronoa?"

Mr. Roronoa? When was the last time he had heard that?

"Did you just call me Mr. Roronoa?" he asked.

Sanji froze and stiffened. "Maybe."

Zoro frowned. "I thought we were done with that like, months ago," he said, shaking his head. He stood up from his seat at the table and approached Sanji, wrapping an arm around his middle. Pressing his mouth to Sanji's ear, he whispered, "I thought you trusted me."

"OH FUCK!"

Of course Sanji would kick him in the balls. To be fair, Zoro realized that suddenly wrapping himself around Sanji had been a surprise and probably wasn't entirely welcomed, but still, it had felt amazing to feel his lean frame against Zoro's muscular torso. He liked it. He really liked it and wished the cook hadn't pushed him away.

"Seriously?" he demanded. Fuck subtlety, he had potentially lost the entire Roronoa bloodline with that one daring move.

"Turnabout's fair play," Sanji told him with a smirk. "You kick me, I kick you."

"I don't kick like a fucking maniac," Zoro defended himself.

Sanji just snorted. "Whatever." There was silence as Sanji continued to make breakfast until he spoke again while Zoro nursed his pained jewels. "So, I figure it shouldn't take me that long to get myself all packed up. I'm guessing you can expect me gone and out of your hair by about nine tonight."

Zoro choked on his milk. "Gone?"

"No objections then?" said Sanji, turning over a waffle. "Great, sorry if I'm a bit loud moving out my stuff but—"

"Moving out?" Zoro repeated. "What the fuck are you talking about?"

Sanji didn't look at him.

"What are you talking about, Curly Brow?" Zoro repeated.

Sanji took a deep breath, but he still didn't look at Zoro when he spoke. "I figured I'm a nuisance and my mental state seems somewhat better, so I may as well leave now, right?"

"FUCK NO!"

Sanji jumped at Zoro's raised voice, turning around to face him finally. What he saw in Sanji's eyes broke him. There was confusion, dejection and so many other emotions that Zoro didn't even want to name. "Do you think just because you told me your story I'd kick you out?" he demanded. "We have a nice talk yesterday and that's it, good-bye?" he asked. "Fuck no, that's not the way it works!"

"But—"

"Why, do you want to leave?" Zoro demanded and as soon as he said it, he felt deflated. What would Sanji say? Zoro had been keeping him here with him out of his own free will, but Zoro liked to think he had come to like it here, but what if that wasn't the case? What if Sanji was just waiting for an opening?

Sanji was silent. "… No," he said softly.

Zoro let out a breath he hadn't known he was holding. "So what's the fucking problem?"

"What's the fucking problem?" Sanji repeated. "What do you fucking think is the problem? I'm dirty! I'm a whore! You can't honestly think you want someone like me in your house, do you?"

"Don't you dare say that again," Zoro snapped at him, grabbing Sanji by his shoulders and keeping eye-contact with him. He refused to let Sanji go underneath his scrutinizing gaze. "Don't you fucking dare."

"Say what?" asked Sanji, his voice raising. "That I'm a whore? That I'm a slut?"

"DON'T!"

Sanji shook his head. "It's true, isn't it?" he demanded. "My body's been used, it's been abused, it's been raped, you think I'm innocent?"

"Sanji, look me in the eyes," Zoro told him in a voice that clearly said he was trying to be calm. "Do other people pay you to have sex with you?"

Sanji shook his head.

"Okay. Then how about you? Do you pay others to have sex with you?"

Sanji shook his head again.

"Then you're not a slut, you're not a whore. You're not a fucking prostitute, or a rent-boy. You're Sanji and you're an unfortunate person who's been dealt shitty cards but you know what? You come out stronger because of it," he said. "You're stronger because of it and I'm not going to fucking discard you just because I know you were raped. That doesn't make you any less valuable to me," he told him.

"Valuable?" Sanji spat. "Yeah right."

"You're not worthless," Zoro said. "Sanji, do you trust me?"

Sanji looked around, anywhere he could other than Zoro.

"Sanji," Zoro said slowly, "Do you trust me?"

"More than I probably should," Sanji muttered under his breath.

"What's that?"

"Yes."

"Okay." Zoro's shoulders relaxed a little. "Then trust me when I say this. You're not worthless. Sanji, I swear to God, you're not worthless and if anyone dares to say otherwise, I'll fucking kill them."

Sanji nodded slowly. "Okay." But Zoro knew he didn't believe him, not yet anyway.

They ate breakfast in silence and then Sanji went out to buy groceries, leaving Zoro in the quiet apartment.


Attempt #1: Subtle Hinting

FAILURE.

Notes:

Cook appears to want to leave. Why the fuck does he want to leave?

Must prove to Sanji he has a sense of worth


Attempt #2: Casual Flirting


Time: 11:16 AM JST

Location: The Idiot's House

Zoro wanted to pull his hair out. Okay, so it hadn't worked that morning, but he had lectured Sanji long and hard about how much he was worth. He had to tell him sometime today, before he lost the nerve and all things fell to hell and shit. Sitting on Luffy's couch, he ran his fingers through his hair, muttering profanities under his breath. How the fuck was he supposed to do this?

"You know, you could try flirting with him," said Nami.

Zoro sighed and threw his legs into the air on the couch as he laid back. "Oh yeah? And how the fuck do you flirt with a man?"

"You do it all the time, don't you?" asked Luffy. "You banter, right?"

"Banter isn't flirting," Zoro said, rolling his eyes.

Luffy blinked. "Really?" He turned to Nami. "I thought you said it was."

"In Zoro and Sanji's case, it is," replied the evil, gambling, conniving redhead.

Zoro shook his head. "You have no idea what you're talking about," he told her. "Anyway, Sanji isn't even here—"

"Fucking bastards, why isn't your fucking doorbell working?"

There was the sound of something being shoved against a door and then Nami was running down the stairs and opening the front door where a pissed off cook stood with snow in his hair. He looked beautiful like that, with the snowflakes sticking to his eyelashes.

"You look like a fucking mess."

Of course, his tongue didn't agree with his head and instead said such a stupid thing as that. Stupid, stupid, stupid!

"You don't look any fucking better," Sanji snapped, taking off his boots. "What'd you do, drown in a ditch?"

"Very funny, Curly Brow!" He rolled his eyes. Turning to Luffy, he glared at him. "What the fuck were you saying before?"

Luffy opened his mouth to respond, but Nami quickly put her hand over his mouth. "He doesn't want you to repeat," she told him. "Anyway," she turned to Zoro, "what were you talking about before you started to pull out your hair?"

"Pull out your hair?" Sanji repeated, staring at Zoro with a confused expression on his face. It was too cute, really. Sanji was going to kill him one of these days.

"It's your fault!" Zoro snapped.

"My fault?" Sanji repeated, snorting in disbelief. "Any shitty problems you have are your own damn fault, Marimo!" He shook his head. "Don't go blaming others for your fucking issues!"

"But you're my problem!"

Sanji stared at him and took a step back.

Shit. That was not what I meant to say ….

"Wait," Zoro said, holding up a hand. "Give me a second." He ran his fingers through his hair, searching for the right way to tell Sanji. Sanji was his problem, in more ways than one. He knotted his stomach, made him feel things he could barely even put words to, drove him up the wall … He was utter lunacy and yet Zoro had come to like it. He had come to like it a lot. But further more, there was the unresolved issue of Sanji seeming to want to move out. Zoro decided to focus this fight on that topic rather than the former. "I'm not going to let you move out," Zoro told him. "You can't decide to kick yourself out of the apartment—"

"It's not like it's mine," Sanji snapped. "Not like I own the shit apartment. I don't even pay the fucking rent, who cares if I'm gone?"

"I CARE!"

Sanji stared at Zoro strangely. His eyes lit up for a moment, before they became dark again and he turned his head away, chewing on his cigar. "Yeah, fucking right," he mumbled.

"Haven't we been over this?" Zoro demanded. He ran his fingers through his hair. He swore he'd go bald soon at this rate. "Fucking bastard, we're not having this conversation again! Not in front of Nami and Luffy!" He walked up to Sanji and glared at him. He had a centimetre of height over him, but that was all Zoro needed to try and intimidate him. "Listen, when we get back to the apartment, we're going to talk about this, okay? We're going to sort this out because I'll be damned if you're ditching me now. Do you understand me?"

Sanji bit his cigar. He turned his head away from Zoro. "You're fucking embarrassing, you know that, don't you?"

"Do you understand me?" Zoro repeated, more forcefully this time.

"… Yes."

There was silence that fell around the room, the atmosphere thick and the quiet seeming to be ominous, leading towards an impending doom. And then—

"WOOOHOOO!"

Sanji and Zoro turned to Luffy who had spoken.

The straw hat man whistled loudly. "So we're all okay now?" he asked with a cheery grin on his face, nearly cracking it to pieces. "Hey Sanji, you should make us something to celebrate!" he added.

Nami hit him upside the head.

"What?" he asked her.

"Baka!" she said, rolling her eyes. She whispered something to him softly in his ear and as she spoke, Luffy's eyes widened.

"Oops! Sorry!" He let out a strange sounding chuckle. "Me and Nami will just go, we have something we need to do," Luffy said. He began to retreat, but not before Zoro could yell a grammatical correction to him. Honestly, it was "Nami and I", was it that hard to understand? It wasn't rocket-science, not even for the straw brained idiot.

Sanji let out a nervous laugh. "Your friends sure are crazy."

Zoro gave him a lopsided grin. "You didn't figure it out already?"

Sanji rolled his eyes, but they darkened and Zoro knew he was about to get serious. "What did you mean I was your problem?"

"I didn't mean it," Zoro said quickly.

"You wouldn't say it if you didn't mean it," Sanji retorted.

"Yes I would, you don't know what goes on in my head!" And thank God for that or else the cook would know that the way he was chewing his cigarette was driving Zoro absolutely insane. Honestly, he didn't even like smoking and yet the blond made it so alluring … "Anyway, what's this whole moving out shit you brought up at breakfast?"

"Why were you even up at that time?" asked Sanji, raising an eyebrow at him. "You don't get up until I have to call you down for breakfast, and sometimes not even then!" Sanji reminded him.

"Felt like waking up early," Zoro told him, rubbing the back of his neck. Fuck, how did he explain his sudden urge to get up early? He couldn't, not unless he told Sanji right now and Zoro didn't think he could. "You got a problem with that, Curly Brow?"

Sanji bit his lip and frowned. "No," he said in a somewhat small voice. "But—"

"Then what's the problem?" Fuck, he was trying to confess to the idiot, how did he end up doing this? It was like his tongue wouldn't work around Sanji, like he would never figure out how to get the muscle to work. They said that the tongue was the strongest muscle in the body, but at the moment, Zoro felt like his tongue was made of jelly and therefore was incapable of forming syllables, therefore incapable of forming words, therefore incapable of getting his fucking point across.

"Nothing, I guess," Sanji said quietly. He turned away from Zoro with a flash of disappointment in his eyes? Was Zoro imagining it?

I take a step forward and take two steps back. Fuck, I really am an ahou.


Attempt #2: Casual Flirting

FAILURE

Notes:

Banter isn't flirting, right?

Why can't I just say it? Why doesn't my tongue work?

Stupid Luffy, interrupting a could-be moment. I'm going to fucking kill him, and his gambling girlfriend too.


Attempt #3: Straight Forward


Time: 12:34 PM JST

Location: Shit-apartment

"What are you making?"

Zoro watched Sanji's back as he made their lunch, practically dancing around the kitchen as usual. It was always entertaining, not to mention interesting to watch the cook— well, cook.

I swear, I'm going to tell him. I'll tell him properly too. Third time's the charm, right?

Taking a deep breath, Zoro braced himself. "S—"

"Sashimi."

"Huh?" Zoro blanked. What?

"I'm making sashimi. I remember you liked it last time," Sanji said. "So I figured I'd make it again."

Oh right. He asked him what he was making. Was Zoro really zoning out that much? He really needed to get this over with, so he could just deal with it and stop worrying about it. "How long till it's done?"

Okay, he was stalling. So what? If you were in his position, trying to confess to a guy who seemed to be a complete lady's man and had a possible resentment towards the male population (despite being part of it himself) due to being raped by the bastards who had ruined his upbringing and childhood, not to mention had trust issues, was convinced he was ugly, going through forced rehab for self-harm and suicidal thoughts, needed therapy for his traumatizing time at a restaurant he was supposed to be able to call home, and had only just gotten over flinching at everyone's touch, you'd be a nervous wreck too.

Wow … when you put it like that, I'm in a really fucked up situation, aren't I?

"Couple of minutes," Sanji said with a shrug. "Wanna play a game?"

Zoro would never admit— okay, well, he was already admitting he was sort of kind of falling in love with the cook, so it wouldn't be a crime to admit that every time he turned to Zoro with that smirk on his face, asking him to play a game, it made Zoro's pulse race.

"What kind of game?"

"You'd know this one. Shirtori."

Zoro had found a new favourite pass-time. Watching Sanji's lips move. "I forgot how to play," he said dumbly.

"Honestly?" Sanji said with a sigh. "You're beyond help," but he was smiling all the same. "Shiritori, it's a word game—"

"Why am I not surprised?"

Sanji glared at him. "Shut it, you know you love my word games. It's pretty easy, one person says a word and then the next person says a word that begins with that word's ending, so if I said something like … I dunno, Zoro, you could say Roronoa. And then to reply to Roronoa, you'd have to say something that begins with A or OA."

"What the fuck begins with OA?"

"Which is why we are never going to say your name in this game, got it?" Sanji asked with a smirk. "I can play while I'm cooking. Hit me with a word, come on Marimo."

Zoro smirked. "Okay. Hmm …" What word? Could he make the cook squirm? "Innuendo," he said simply, playing it safe for now.

"Dominance," Sanji replied.

Zoro could say that didn't go straight to his groin, but he'd be lying.

"Censorship."

Sanji frowned. "Does that even work?" he asked, raising a fucked up eyebrow at Zoro.

"Does dominance work?" Zoro shot back.

"I don't know, does it?" asked Sanji, wiggling his fucked up eyebrow.

Fuck, the guy was trying to kill him, right?

Sanji let out a laugh. "Anyway, don't you want to talk about the whole me moving out thing?"

Zoro shook his head. "Not now, later," he assured him. "We're going to talk about it tonight because there's no way you're going to be gone in the morning. If you are, I'm going to fucking kill you."

"Doesn't that ruin the whole point of hospitality?" Sanji asked him, his eyes laughing almost as much as he was. Sanji didn't know it, but every time he laughed or his eyes shone, Zoro remembered how long it had taken to get him that way, and he was in awe at how much progress the man had made. That and the sound of his laughter really was beautiful.

"Whatever."

"Hmm … Well just cooking can get a bit plain," Sanji said slowly. "But—"

"Did you just call cooking boring?" Zoro asked, flabbergasted. "The cook's calling cooking boring? It's the apocalypse!"

"I didn't say it was boring, I said it could get a bit plain—"

"Plain, boring, mundane, they all mean the same thing!" Zoro said with a triumphant grin.

"They're not!"

"I'll pull out a thesaurus," Zoro said. "I can and I will, you want to try me cook?"

"You own a thesaurus?" Sanji asked, smirking at him. "You know the word thesaurus?"

"Shut up!" Zoro snapped. "So? Do you want me to pull it out?"

"Can you find it?" Sanji challenged.

"Y-yeah!"

Sanji smirked, shaking his head. "No you can't, Marimo. Anyway, let's play a game. A different one. Let's tell a story."

"A story?" Zoro repeated.

"Yup. Three words at a time. We have to tell a story, we can each only say three words at a time. You want to start?" Sanji asked.

"Okay fine," Zoro decided. It couldn't hurt. Maybe he could throw in a confession? He had to be straight forward, no beating around the bush. "Once upon a."

Sanji shook his head. "If you start every story like that, I'll kill you," he declared. "It's fucking stupid. If you dare say that beginning to a story ever again, I'm going to kick you until your thorax comes out."

Zoro sighed. "Fine. Once there was—"

"No."

Zoro glared at Sanji. "What the fuck was the problem with that?"

"You started with 'once'. That's boring!" Sanji told him. "Okay, I'm starting. One day there—"

"You just did it too!"

Sanji furrowed his brow. "I did not, I said 'one', that's very different word from 'once'."

"It's a derivative," Zoro shot back. "If I can't say 'once', you can't say 'one'."

Sanji turned around from his position at the stove and glared at him. "Do you want me to burn your food?" he asked, raising an eyebrow at Zoro.

"N-no," Zoro admitted.

"So we'll do this again. One day there …?"

"Was a boy named—"

"That was four words," Sanji accused.

"What? No it wasn't!"

"Was a boy named, that's four!" Sanji repeated.

"A?" Zoro said in disbelief. "That hardly counts as a word, it's more like half a word, it's just a letter!"

"It's a vowel!"

"Are we really getting into the technicalities of linguistics?"

Sanji sighed. "Fine, we won't get into technicalities, but your sentence is cut off. The story so far is 'one day there was a boy'."

Zoro sighed and crossed his arms. "Fine." He knew that the most logical thing to say about the boy next was his name though, so it didn't matter what Sanji did, his first word had to be 'named'.

"Who," Sanji said slowly. Zoro gritted his teeth. Sanji was fucking up his story, the bastard. "was called."

Zoro grinned. "Eggplant. Called Eggplant," he reiterated.

Sanji frowned. "I shouldn't have told you about that," he muttered.

"Tough luck cook," Zoro said. "His name's Eggplant."

"Fine." Sanji clearly didn't like starting the story, it seemed he had given all the good parts to Zoro. "Eggplant liked to …"

"Eat home-made sandwiches."

"Four words again!"

"It's a compound-word!" Zoro snapped. "Do you know anything about linguistics?"

Sanji sighed and rolled his eyes. "Whatever. Eggplant was shy."

Now Zoro wasn't sure why he did it. To this very day, he'd never know what it was that made him open his big fat mouth at that moment, but he did it anyway. He said, "Voulais-tu sortir avec moi?"

Sanji stared at him.

Shit.

Zoro shut his eyes and braced himself for Sanji's answer when Sanji sighed and rolled his eyes.

"I have no idea what you just said, but that wasn't three words and there's no disputing that."


Attempt #3: Straight Forward

FAILURE

Notes:

Don't speak in French when trying to confess.

Find thesaurus


Attempt #4: Post-It


Time: 5:56 PM JST

Location: Shit-apartment

If he couldn't say it because his tongue got fucking knotted to the point where he was spewing a different language, then Zoro would just write it. Suki. Daisuki. It wasn't that hard. And yet for some reason, his mind had blanked on how to write.

He would not let Sanji call him stupid and be right. He knew how to write, he did, but his hand was shaking so much and the bright yellow of the post-it note was starting to piss him off. He had seven hours until the day was over and he was going to get this right, he had to. No, he didn't even have seven hours, he had six. Fuck. Okay, he could do this.

"What you writing, Marimo?"

Immediately, Zoro jumped.

It was also at that second that he realized how stupid he was. Would he actually write it anyway? With how much he was trembling, he wouldn't be surprised if he dropped the pen. Say he did write it, knowing himself and the amount of guts he had, he'd probably scrunch it up and throw it in the bin. Fuck. He could do this. He could.

"Oi, you deaf? I asked you what you were writing!"

"Nothing," Zoro said, biting his lip harshly.

"Oh come on!" Sanji rolled his eyes. "Don't give me that bullshit, what, you writing a secret love letter?" Was that … what was that tone in his voice? Like … he was envious? Was Zoro imagining things? Dear God he hoped not.

"And if it is?" Zoro asked, challenging him.

Sanji's grin faltered to a little frown before he smiled again. It was fake. "Who's the lucky girl?"

"No one," Zoro said. It was true. Sanji wasn't a girl. "Besides, I never said it was a love letter, I was teasing, remember?" Zoro shrugged. "Why, jealous?"

Sanji rolled his eyes. "You wish."

Yeah, I do Sanji. I really do.

"Anyway, I just got off the phone with Nami. She wants us to come over to her and Luffy's place, they're having a party or some other kind of shindig."

Zoro rolled his eyes. "You say I'm old school when you just said shindig?" Zoro shook his head. "It doesn't work like that. Shindig is like … the 80s or something."

"You're discriminating against different decades," Sanji told him accusingly. "Come on, it's not that big of a deal. I heard some girl, Kaya's going to be there? Who's she? I think they mentioned her once before."

"Kaya, she's Usopp's girlfriend," Zoro explained.

"Usopp has a girlfriend?!"

Zoro laughed, the post-it note long forgotten. "Yeah, they've been dating for at least six months now. That could be what the whole thing's about. See, Usopp's liked her since forever and she recently recovered from an accident …"

"Is she disabled?"

"Not that kind of accident!" Zoro shook his head. "She was suffering from depression and Usopp was helping her. He told her some of his outrageous stories, you know, like the one he told you about the time he flew to Greece for the summer Olympics? Those are the stories he tells her all the time," Zoro said.

"But they're lies!"

Zoro looked at him. "Aren't lies better than the truth sometimes?"

Sanji fell silent.

"Anyway, that was only one of his ridiculous stories. He told her about how he was once part of a pirate crew called the Usopp Pirate Gang."

"The Golden Age of Piracy was in the eighteenth century, wasn't it?"

"Try sixteenth and seventeenth," Zoro corrected him. "I know, right? He's crazy."

"Captain of our fairy band,

Helena is here at hand,

And the youth, mistook by me,

Pleading for a lover's fee.

Shall we their fond pageant see?

Lord, what fools these mortals be!"

Zoro stared at Sanji. "What?"

"Shakespeare," Sanji replied with a shrug. "It's from A Midsummer Night's Dream, one of his well-known comedies. Basically, there's a huge love potion mix up so everyone falls in love with different people then they were originally in love with. Two men end up falling for this girl, Helena and she's really pissed at them cause one of them loves her friend while the other one is the one she's in love with, but she thinks he's making fun of her. Puck, this magical fairy, put a love potion on the boys because he was asked to by his, like, master I guess you could call him? Anyway, he screwed up and he thinks humans are stupid people, controlled by love. Even though it was his fault that it happened, he still thinks they're foolish."

Zoro nodded slowly, taking everything in and just when Sanji thought he was going to say something really poignant and deep, he said, "Who the fuck names their kid Puck?"

Sanji laughed. "Shakespeare, apparently," he replied. "Come on Marimo, we've only got so much time before we have to get going." Sanji eyed the post-it note still in Zoro's hand, blank and unwritten on. "You gonna finish your sappy love letter?"

"I never said it was sappy," Zoro snapped.

"But you just admitted to it being a love letter," Sanji shot back with a triumphant grin.

"It's not!"

"The Nile isn't only a river in Egypt," Sanji said. "Anyway, I'm going to get ready. You should too."

With that, the curly browed cook left.

Zoro stared down at the blank piece of paper. He contemplated writing it anyway in pen, even if he was going to crumple up the paper when he was done, just to get it off his chest, but he didn't. Instead, he glared at the bright yellow offending piece of paper and growled. "ARGH!"

"Zoro?" came Sanji's voice from somewhere far away in Zoro's mind. "You okay?"

"Fine," Zoro called back to Sanji, wrinkling the damn piece of paper in his fist. "Salaud," he muttered under his breath before throwing it into the trash harshly.


Attempt #4: Post-It

FAILURE

Notes:

Learn how to write again

Learn about Shakespeare

Unknot tongue


Attempt #5: — fuck it!


Zoro didn't care anymore. He really didn't. He was perfectly content to sit on the couch with Sanji, watching some mindless anime while they stayed silent in the dark of the apartment without the cook ever knowing about his damned feelings.

So what if he had looked beautiful with tear stains running down his cheeks? So what if he wanted to convince him he was beautiful, because by God was he? It didn't matter. He could be content like this, watching … Holy fuck, he was watching that Hetalia crack for him! Zoro took a deep breath and tried to ignore the way Sanji seemed to curl into his side.

Fuck, he was so not good.

Before he could second-guess himself, Zoro put a hand on the side of Sanji's cheek, gently pulling him towards him. Then without a second thought, he kissed him.

Was it this fucking good the first time?

His lips were chapped, a little rough underneath his, but he didn't care. He pressed against Sanji's lips gently, the pressure barely non-existent. The hand on Sanji's cheek lowered, snaking around his neck to keep him in place and he swore, Zoro felt like he was melting into him, about to become a pile of mush when it got even better, if that was even possible.

Slowly, Sanji's hand moved from its position on the couch and lowered his fingers into Zoro's hair, pulling him closer, just a little. He pressed back against Zoro's lips softly, his fingers gently fisting Zoro's hair. If it weren't for the hint of barely existent pain at Sanji's tugging, Zoro would think he was dreaming.

He kissed him back, using his other arm that wasn't around Sanji's neck to wrap around his waist, trying to pull him as close as he could. He could die happily now.

With the slightest flick of his tongue, Zoro could practically taste Sanji on his lips. Spices with the undeniable trace of nicotine. It was toxic, it was intoxicating. He heard the smallest hint of a gasp and Sanji's lips parted, just a little. Zoro experimentally swept his tongue across Sanji's bottom lip and the blond's lips parted further.

Hesitantly, Zoro's tongue gently entered Sanji's mouth.

"Aah," Sanji gasped, grabbing with his other hand at Zoro's shirt, tugging at it roughly. Sanji broke the kiss softly, his eyes closed, his breathing laboured.

"Don't tell me that tired you out," Zoro teased in a soft voice, just to fill the silence.

He had made his move, now it was up to Sanji to decide what he wanted.

Sanji slowly opened his eyes and in the dim light the TV provided, Zoro could see the confusion in his grey-blue eyes. "W-why?" Sanji asked in a quiet voice, sounding small.

Zoro took a deep breath. He realized what his problem had been all day. He had been trying to plan, he had been trying to find some kind of method to tell Sanji how he felt when he should've just done it. Thinking about it had caused him too much stress and worry. He shouldn't have thought about it, he should've just done it. That was his problem. He had been over-thinking it.

It was his turn to move.

God I hope I do this right.

"I'll be honest," Zoro said softly, making sure he didn't startle the cook. "I don't understand my feelings completely, I'm still confused. I don't know anything definite, but I do know that I don't want you to leave." He watched Sanji's eyes, gauging a reaction from him. "I don't want you to leave," he repeated, "and I'm here. I'm here and I don't plan on letting you go any time soon, so let me be there for you, okay? Let me protect you."

Sanji let out a quiet chuckle. "I'm not a fucking girl, Marimo."

"I know," Zoro told him softly. "Believe me, I know."

Sanji bit his lip, as though in deep concentration. "This … this isn't some dream, is it?"

This time, Zoro chuckled. "Do you often dream of kissing me?" he teased softly.

"More often recently," Sanji admitted, turning his head away, the lightest trace of a blush on his cheeks. Zoro's breath caught in his throat. He was pretty sure the blond had no idea what he had just admitted to, but who was Zoro to bring it to light? "You don't … you're not doing this because you pity me, are you?"

Zoro shook his head. "Why would I?"

"I … I don't know."

They fell into silence for a while, Sanji chewing at his lip. Zoro's heart beat faster, unsure of what to do or say. Did he screw up? Did he mess up what he had with Sanji?

"Zoro?"

"Yes?" Zoro replied, trying not to let his anxiety show.

"I'll stay."

Zoro let out a breath he hadn't realized he had been holding. "Sanji …"

"I …" Sanji looked at Zoro in the eyes, the conflict obvious in his beautiful orbs. "I don't want to be hurt again."

Zoro shook his head. "No one's going to hurt you," he told him softly, wrapping his arms around him tightly. "You're not alone. Not anymore."


Author's Note #2: Okay the thank yous!

razephyr: I have this thing for people with low self-esteem. I like to make others see themselves differently and this story, given the circumstances, I could believe in Sanji's lack of self-esteem. I always find those insecure characters to be really adorable and so, I made Sanji like that. I hope you don't mind, since I usually like to keep all of the characters in character, but well, I couldn't. Not given the AU plot this story has.

Guest: Um, is that a good thing?

AmaiOni: Well, I've written the next chapter, so yay! Also, here's what I think when it comes to love. You don't need someone who looks past your flaws, you need someone who finds that your flaws aren't flaws at all, it's not settling for someone with all the faults, it's seeing those faults as being part of being human and finding the "faults" to be endearing. No one's perfect and I don't like people who try to make characters perfect or anything like that. People who are good with words? God, no! I like the awkwardness, I find it like, a thousand times more endearing when it happens. I swear, I probably had a point to this, but I can't remember it. Anyway, I hope you like this chapter!

JustCallMeLucie: I've heard of Young Money, just never heard anything from them (him?). Memories was the first story for this pairing I've ever read and I still love it to death. God, you have no idea. There was just something heartbreaking about it. But anyway, yeah, I did get inspired by it in several different areas. For one, Partys bar is inspired by it (Well no, Partys bar is in Luffy's hometown, I chose that bar in particular for that reason) and the idea of getting money from their fights was also taken from there. God, there were a couple of things I took from there just cause I appreciate that wonderfully told story. I hope this story also manages to stand on its own though. I was also partially inspired by Love Me Dead, just a bit. It definitely broadened my music, but the playlist was deeply inspired from some songs from Love Me Dead. My friend questions if she herself is a robot, or if rather, it's everyone around her that's the robot. She hasn't come up with a definite answer yet.

Raigon: Perhaps they would work best on Sanji. Either way, Zoro has an idea in mind. It's a secret for now.

Okay, now here's a question for you all: which summer Olympics was held in Greece?


1st Edit: September 20th 2015