Re-edited: 14/11/14
Present day:
A pale blue door. This door is now the only thing in his way.
Wearing faded blue jeans, white t-shirt, and black steel-capped boots, Zoro warily stands in front of an apartment door. Up until now he had not felt nervous. Not when he was told the new address, not through the long train ride here, not even when he tried to find the apartment. But now, as soon as he found himself in front of the right door, waves of nervousness crashed throughout his body. Zoro began doubting his actions. Should he have come straight here? Or should he have brought someone else with him? Luffy perhaps? Would Sanji even want to see him?
The morning after Sanji's departure:
"Shishishishi, Shanks! You'll never guess what Ace just-"
"Luffy, now is not the time for that. Listen, I need you to gather up your friends and bring them to the bar tonight. There is something important I need to give to you."
"Yosh! Is it meat!?"
"NO IT IS NOT MEAT!"
Rubbing his forehead with his free hand, he looks down at the envelope on the counter. It's clearly Sanji's writing. He'd tried calling the blonde first, but it just went straight to voice mail. Somehow knowing what was written inside, he rang Luffy, and thought it would be best if his nakama found out at the same time.
"This is serious Luffy. I will close the bar tonight, make sure the others know to be here at 8PM, got it?"
"Yeah, I'll do that…. Wanna know what Ace did?"
Sighing, he picks up the envelope and places it in his pocket.
"Go on then, what did he do this time?"
Later that night:
Walking into the bar, Zoro notices that everyone is already here, well almost everyone. Vivi, Kaya, Ace, Marco, Kuina, and even Smoker are sitting at a cramped table with the rest of his crew. But for some reason Sanji isn't even here yet.
Taking a seat by his fiancé, Zoro looks from one to the other. No one seems to be bothered by the fact that Sanji isn't already here, swooning over the women. He'd tried to contact the idiot earlier, but it just went straight to voice mail, and he never replied to his text telling him to be here.
Where the hell is he?
Folding his arms over his chest, he slumps in his chair, and notices Shanks walk out from the back room. Shanks makes his way over to Luffy, handing him a set of keys and a white envelope. Raising his eyebrow at this, Zoro's interest peaks when the red haired man whispers something to Luffy, then walks out the front door of the building, grabbing his coat along the way.
Glancing around the table, he sees that a few of the others have noticed too, and everyone goes quiet while Luffy opens the envelope and starts to read the letter inside to himself. Turning to the door, he keeps a look out for Sanji. Why hasn't that idiot got here yet?
Hearing the scrape of a chair, he looks back around just in time to watch his captain get up from his seat, and pull his strawhat down to mask his eyes. As the boy clutches the letter and envelope in his hands, Zoro worries about what has clearly upset the young lad.
"Luffy, what-"
"He's gone. Sanji's left us."
Wh-what did he just say? Is this some kind of joke?
Zoro stays calmly in his seat, observing Nami snatching the letter and envelope from Luffy. He watches Nami's free hand rise up to cover her mouth and her eyes widen. Some of the crew start to panic but he just stays still while his eyes are fixated on the letter as it gets past around from one to the other.
He can hear Chopper and Franky sobbing, but he tunes it out, and focuses on the passing of the letter. Once it's in his hands, along with the envelope, he quickly scans over it. That bastard!
Crushing it in his hands, he gets up from his seat and hits the table with his fists. Looking up, everyone is staring at him, and the room has gone silent once more. Fuming with rage, he shoves the letter into his pocket and storms out of the bar, cursing Sanji with every ill name under the sun.
Two months after Sanji's departure:
16…17…18…..16…..17… wait, didn't I just count that?
Sighing, Zoro rolls over from his position and lays down on the mat, staring up at the ceiling. Throwing an arm over his head, he covers his eyes and takes a few deep breathes. He can faintly hear someone calling his name – maybe Kuina? – but he blocks it out.
Forcing himself to sit back up, he glances around his home gym and notices that the door is open. Didn't I close it? Shrugging, he stands up and walks over to his training weights. Just as he is about to pick one up, his phone rings. Searching around the room, he finally spots it on the windowsill.
Glancing at the caller ID he quickly rejects the call and turns off his phone. Why can't they just leave me alone? I'm trying to train here! Everyday another one of his nakama would call him, trying to coax him out of the house - this time the call is from Franky. And each time, he would ignore them.
Going back to the mat in the middle of the room, Zoro starts on his push-ups once again. Quickly losing count, he decides to give up, and walks out of the room, to his bedroom.
Heading straight for the bedside table, he takes out a white envelope from the top draw and sits down on his king sized bed.
Written on the envelope is 'Captain Luffy' in neat and slightly curled handwriting.
Sanji's handwriting.
Zoro carefully takes out the letter inside, and reads it.
Dear Luffy,
Looks like you're going to have to find a new cook, captain. Don't worry. There are plenty of other great cooks around, I'm sure you'll find one soon which can satisfy your black hole for a stomach. Sorry to leave this way, through a shitty letter. Please don't waste your time, calling or looking for me, I'll be fine. Oh and give my apologies to the lovely Nami-Swan and Robin-Chwan. And the others too. I know I don't need to tell you this, as you will anyway, but look after him, Luffy. Make sure that day runs smoothly. Don't let anyone ruin it, or his happiness. It would break my heart otherwise.
Yours sincerely,
Your ex-cook, Sanji.
The swordsman keeps reading over the letter. He knows he's missing something, but he just can't figure out what it is. What is that shitty cook on about? What day does he mean and who is he talking about? Why did that bastard leave us?
Four months after Sanji's departure:
Feeling uncomfortable in his suit, Zoro glances around the room from his seat. He feels so out of place in this fancy 5 star restaurant. Curly-brows would fit right in….
Looking back at the table, Kuina had just finished giving their orders to the waiter.
"Wow, this place looks exactly the same. Remember when we came here for our first date Zoro?"
"Yeah." Sanji picked this place...
Glancing around the room once more, and taking a sip of the drink that just got placed in front of him, he fails to notice the irritated scowl of his fiancé.
This is the first night they've been out together since they found out that Sanji had left. And even though he should be focusing on Kuina – as it is the anniversary of their first date – he can't stop thinking about Sanji. Everything here reminds him of that idiot.
He's thought about Sanji so much these past few months, and it has been driving him insane. He doesn't even know why the shit cook is the only thing he's been thinking about. Zoro would train more, trying to rid his mind of the blonde. But this only resulted in him thinking of how great it would be to spar with the cook again. What angers him the most is that he still can't figure out what Sanji meant in that damn letter.
Why should I even bother? And why am I still thinking of him. That blonde bastard left me! – I mean the crew….
The food arriving snaps Zoro out of his thoughts and while he eats, he can't help but think of how much he misses Sanji's cooking.
Five months after Sanji's departure:
Getting of the bus, Zoro wonders around an unfamiliar town, looking closely at every blonde person he sees. This is the tenth day in a row that he has been out looking in nearby cities, towns, and even villages for that shitty cook.
A few weeks back Zoro had found himself thinking more about Sanji, and he finally accepted that he missed the idiot. He would constantly wonder where the blonde was, what he was doing and who he was with.
This was when he had decided to start looking for Sanji.
A few hours later, as the sun starts to go down, he makes his way back to the bus stop. Another failed search…. Sighing as he gets onto the bus, Zoro decides that it is time to bring in some reinforcements.
Six months after Sanji's departure:
On his way home from Shanks' Bar, Zoro thinks back to how the rest of his nakama had reacted. Ace had told everyone that he had gotten Smoker involved in his search for Sanji. He wasn't that surprised that the freckled man had found out, seen as though his boyfriend Marco worked in the same police department as Smoker. He just whished that the idiot had kept his mouth shut.
The crew seemed to have mixed opinions on his decision. Chopper and Usopp had hopeful expressions, while Nami looked like she was mentally debating on whether it was a good idea or not. Other than the looks directed at him and a few murmurs between themselves, no one said a word about it. A few minutes after he confirmed that it was true, Kuina had excused herself, and left the bar.
Zoro still didn't know what to think of this.
Once Zoro has opened the door to his house, he's shocked to find his fiancé waiting in the hallway, with her bags packed on the floor beside her.
Kuina had finally snapped. Zoro's recent obsession with Sanji had become too much for her. She ignored it at first, just like he had been ignoring her these past few months, but she became fed up, and after what she had found out today, she had finally come to a decision.
Picking up her bags, Kuina then grabs her keys and takes off the key to Zoro's house from her key ring, "As you can see Zoro, I'm leaving."
"What? Why!"
Seriously! What does he mean why? At times like this Kuina is still stunned at how dense this man in front of her can be sometimes.
"Zoro. You and I both know how much I've been ignored recently. And yes, I have always been able to accept that sometimes your training comes before me. But this time it's different. Your fixation with Sanji has gone too far."
"Look. I know this… thing with the shitty cook has spun out of control right now, but the sooner he's found and brought back for Luffy and the others, the sooner things can go back to normal."
Sighing, she clutches her bags tighter. Does he really believe that he's doing this for the crew's sake? How can he not realise what is going on here? He doesn't love me anymore. At least not in the way he used to. Doing this hurts so much, but right now Sanji's probably hurting more. I know that man's been holding back his feelings for a long time now. I could see it in his eyes whenever he looked at Zoro.
Biting her lip, Kuina takes off her engagement ring and places it on the table in the hallway, along with her key to Zoro's house. Not wanting to give anything away, as Zoro needs to figure this out for himself, she decides to give him a few things to think on instead.
"You don't love me anymore, Zoro. Since Sanji left, you won't even look at me, all you talk about is him. All you seem to care about is him. And the sooner you realise where your true loyalties lie, the better it will be for all of us."
Calmly, she walks past Zoro and leaves, closing the door behind her as she holds back her tears.
Seven months after Sanji's departure:
Grumbling to himself, Zoro stomps into his house and slams the door shut behind him. He had wasted another day at the police station. Smoker had blocked his number and was refusing to see him. It's my own fault, I keep pestering him about finding Sanji.
Sighing, he makes his way up the stairs and to his home gym. As soon as he opens the door, he goes straight to lifting weights in the far corner of the room, as his mind once again thinks over what Kuina had said about a month ago.
Everything she told him that night now finally makes sense. He is in love with Sanji. What annoys him about this is that the shit cook had to leave for him to realise his true feelings. Zoro also hated the fact that he had hurt Kuina through all of this.
As he thinks back on his relationship with Sanji, he realises that the cook was always there for him. He even helped him with his relationship with Kuina. The shitty cook knew more about what she liked than he did. All the birthday, Christmas and anniversary presents he got her, were all chosen by Sanji. That idiot was more involved with my relationship with Kuina than I was, even though that bastard has been gone for over seven months!
Kuina is right, since Sanji left, all he ever thought about was the cook.
Cursing as he loses track on the number of sit ups he is now doing, he decides to start again. However it's not long before a shitty blonde distracts him once more.
But this time, it's not in the same way as all those months ago when he innocently only wondered where the curly bastard had gone. No, this time, he can clearly imagine what it would be like to kiss Sanji. To push the man down on his bed and straddle him, slowly taking off the cook's clothes and to see the others flushes cheeks as he gently trails light kisses down the man's chest, hearing Sanji beg him for more, and moan in pleasure when –
Sitting up straight and shaking his head, Zoro tries to forget the images, deciding to have a nice cold shower instead and heads for the bathroom. He hopes that Smoker will find Sanji soon and the sooner the better.
Eight months after Sanji's departure (present day):
Staring at the door that is now currently in his way, Zoro can't help but mentally thank Smoker for finding Sanji. If it wasn't for Smoker, he wouldn't be here now, standing outside Sanji's new apartment door. What was that idiot dartboard-brow thinking, moving all the way to the other side of the country?
He knows his feelings now, but would Sanji ever feel the same way about him? Taking a few deep breaths, he feels calmer and more relaxed. It doesn't matter if that shit cook doesn't like me back right now, or ever. The only thing that matters is bringing him back home to our nakama.
Knocking loudly on the door, he's met with silence. As he is about to knock on the door once more, he faintly hears the shuffling sound of footsteps from the other side. His heart starts pounding, and it only increases when the door slowly opens inwards, and he sees Sanji in front of him.
Looking over the other man, he notices that Sanji's feet are bare, and he gulps at the sight of the man in his tight black skinny jeans and blue buttoned up shirt. He can't help but notice how closely the blue of his shirt matches the colour of his eyes, which have widened in surprise at seeing him.
"….Zoro?"
