Me: And it goes on! Sorry it's so short.
New Recollections
"But Namiiiii~! I don't understand," the captain whined for the millionth time in the past sixty seconds.
"What else is new?!" Nami screamed, her face turning a unhealthy shade of red. Luffy scratched the top of his hat idly, huffing in frustration. He didn't understand how or why Sanji and Zoro left and came back suddenly, and he also remembered a second pair of the two before the separation. The navigator wouldn't listen to his questions, let alone answer them. Luffy wouldn't get it anyway.
The chef and swordsman hadn't awaken yet, and it had already been well over five hours. The sun was beginning to set as slowly as Chopper thought it was possible. Robin said they should have woken up two hours ago, but the possibility of seven hours of memories getting crammed into their minds was an option. Chopper briefly wondered what new things happened and what they experienced to make the Time-Time Fruit's effect last this long. Barely moving except their synced heaving chests, the reindeer watched the first mate and blonde in their unconscious states, hoping that they would wake up so that he's be able to crush them in death hugs. Being a doctor, Chopper wouldn't dare to cause them potential harm while they were still healing. But this time, perhaps he could settle for squeezing a limb with no wounds, like their foots.
Sanji groaned, turning over roughly on his shoulder. The pain was nothing compared to striking realization. He sat up and immediately flung the blanket off, darting for Zoro's bed across from his own. The swordsman looked at peace, giving the cook's heart strange warm flutters. Robin was right; Sanji remembered a lot of new events involving the katana-swinging marimo without even trying. They were all strangely lovey-dovey, if not embarrassing, if not somewhat sexually intense, and the cook even recalled the swordsman doing sweet things in the past also. Sappy sweet. It seems like so much happened that Sanji's brain couldn't contain it all. And he surely couldn't contain his happiness in seeing his lover.
Chopper scolded him for such fast movements, demanding that he get back in bed. Sanji grinned at the young doctor smugly, "Okay, I'll get back in bed." Hastily climbing over Zoro's railing, Sanji snuggled contently beside the other's form, wrapping a protective arm around his waist. Chopper growled in annoyance; this isn't the first time Sanji did this when they were injured.
"I meant your own bed!" Chopper flatly emphasized.
"You said 'in bed'. I didn't hear any specific beds," Sanji defended, pouting slightly. It felt...right to be this close to Zoro. The cook was sure this could become a habit if he wasn't too careful. A quick flutter of eye lids revealed Zoro's bloodshot orbs, changing his calm expression into one of great urgency. He sprang up, and instantly regretted the dumb decision. Pain shot down his spine, and his ass was still sore, but it was more of a powerful ache. His muscles were as stale as Luffy's vegetables at dinner as he tried to stretched the tension away. The first person he saw was Chopper, who couldn't stop his face from splitting into a large, relieved smile. Sanji watched in loving irritation as Zoro still felt the need to say, "Oi, where's the shit-cook?!" even though he was clearly being half held down by said blonde.
"You guys are damaging your torn muscle tissue! STOP MOVING SO MUCH," Chopper cried, reality and doctor mode slamming back into him. Of course, he was overjoyed by them awaking, but they still needed to let their bodies have a rest. "The pills and repair cream I gave you should complete the healing process in a few more hours. After that, you can leave the infirmary. BUT FOR NOW, at least try to stay still." With that, the little doctor scuttled away and out of the room to fetch the rest of the crew.
Zoro had already noticed Sanji hugging him excruciatingly tight, but still continued to pester him by pretending he wasn't there. Growling, the cook pinched the side of his hip hard, earning a surprised twitch and heated glared. Sanji laughed as he sat up and leaned against the pillows. He wondered what and how much Zoro remembered. Did they have different lengths of how many memories they could withhold? Did Sanji have more or less than the green-headed first mate?
Seeming absolutely distant, Zoro remained quiet. He didn't speak at all since the teasing questions stopped. He only stared straight forward, relaxed into Sanji embrace but at the same time not fully at ease. What was even stranger was that Sanji felt no need to ask him what was wrong, and if there was something wrong. Deep down, the cook knew that Zoro didn't need words to say what he felt, and he never did. Body language was everything, and from Zoro's unsure composure, it was obvious what was being said. Seriously, shove a random fruit in my mouth again and we're gonna have some problems, got it?
Sanji smiled and held a hand up to stroke the other's cheek softly. Got it.
Zoro finally relaxed against the cook's shoulder, all different kinds of stress and uncertainty leaving his body. Sanji automatically knew he was forgiven.
XVX
"What do you remember?" Sanji eventually asked, munching on the dinner Robin cooked for the crew. He now understood why Luffy, Chopper, and Nami were stunned when he began fawning over the navigator. It was true, he hadn't done it in years. He still treated them with respect better than the men, but no more declarations of love and swoons. He apparently saved those for Zoro, who undoubtably didn't want them.
The swordsman shrugged, shifting his cook-entangled legs slightly for comfort. "Do you want specific or random?"
"Anything that comes to mind."
"Uh, I remember having a big argument in the galley, and you got so mad that you spilled some soup and blamed me when you slipped."
"...Why did that come to mind first?"
"'Cause it was funny as hell. Your back bent backwards, Sanji. You looked like a pissed off crab. I couldn't stop laughing every time I saw your face for a week. How about you?"
"Hm, I remember a certain someone trying to prove his experience in romance." Sanji smirked as the marimo's fork slumped in his mouth. Zoro must have recalled it also. "You spent an entire week doing the corny-ist shit for me."
"No, I didn't."
"You pulled out my chair every time I sat down-"
"Nope."
"-you actually brought me chocolates, which were expired-"
"Did not!"
"-you even wrote me a poem! What was it called again? My something...'My Love-Cook...Sugar-Coated My Heart'?"
"NO!"
"Yes! It totally was! 'Golden locks, my heart he rocks. Personality sweet, he's a personal treat. More intoxicating than sake, better than any sword, being near him is its own reward'."
"IT WAS LUFFY'S IDEA!"
Sanji's stomach was beginning to cramp, "That's exactly what you said when I got done laughing!"
"Fuck, why did that have to come to mind first for you?"
The blonde took a deep breath to shoo away his endless laughter, "Because, mosshead, I'm a romantic. It might have been so amateuristic that it hurt, but that's what kept it so original and sweet. Pretty sure I got cavities after that," Sanji grinned. He loved how Zoro could bare resemblance to a cherry perfectly when the time was right. That day came as a huge shock to the blonde; Roronoa Zoro, the demon, saying how much he loved a foul-mouthed person like him? Sanji was so touched it was funny. Might have been Luffy's idea, but definitely not the captain's words. "Besides, don't you remember how I paid you back~?" the cook purred.
"...Those rope burns didn't clear up for weeks, bastard."
"Don't act like you didn't enjoy it while it lasted, shitty marimo."
"U-Uh, well, I remember that time I got food poisoning from a market vendor. You locked yourself in the galley and threw away every single thing that was edible. Even after Chopper diagnosed where it came from."
"I didn't want to endanger anyone else on the ship, shithead. It had nothing to do with you."
"No, because before you threw everything out, you made lunch and served it to everyone but me. You cooked what you had, served it, threw it out, bought new ingredients, and made my lunch separate." Zoro smirked at Sanji's shocked expression. Yes, although he was in the Sick Bay for majority of the time, he received his information by Usopp. The sharpshooter was curious to why Sanji was throwing food away and thought Zoro might know something about it. He didn't, of course, until he pieced it together.
Setting down his partly emptied tray, Sanji captured Zoro into a loose embrace. The swordsman looked back at him with half a bread roll sticking out of his mouth. "Unrefined algae," Sanji muttered, raking his fingers through feather soft hair.
"Cleengy Cook," Zoro muffledly shot back.
"...I'm so stupid," the blonde sighed heavily, "I can't believe it took me a goddamn second chance to have all this. To have you the way I do."
"Look, I'm happy too, cook," Zoro admitted while swallowing audibly, "but don't go all mushy on me. We fucked up at first, but the important thing is that we fixed it, right?"
"As blatant as always," Sanji stated. He already knew Zoro didn't believe in destiny or fate, and neither did he. Sort of. Come on, really? The swordsman's and chef's unrequited love and then Zoro so happens to eat a Time-Time Fruit that sends them back specifically two years? If Sanji wasn't open to any ideas whatsoever, this would seem illogical. Facts don't lie, but Zoro's stubbornness is more powerful than a simple fact. But he supposed Zoro was correct. The important thing was that they were together now, right?
"Oi, do you remember my birthday present you gave me?" Zoro suddenly asked, surprising the other since silence had overtook the room. Sanji shook his head dejectedly; Zoro's birthday was five months ago.
"You said that if you felt like it, you would bottom. Not much of a present, but-"
"OI OI! I remember, and that was just a bonus! I made an entire feast for you! Including non-sweetened strawberry desserts!"
"You make a feast for everyone's birthday!"
"But I went all out for you!" Sanji whined.
"Oh, and because you're a shitty cook you think everyone wants food for a gift?!"
"Well, what did you want?!"
"I-I don't know!"
"You don't know, yet you complain?!" Sanji bellowed.
The rest of the Straw Hats thought it would be better to let them be theirselves for a moment before entering the infirmary. It was good to have the last source of noise on the Sunny again: Sanji and Zoro's yelling. The shouts and accusations were much better than loud moans in the crew's opinion.