I made sure to stay as close as possible to the restaurant, which I found out was called The Baratie, so I would certainly be able to find my way back to it. I spent my time just walking around, watching some pigeons and thinking about my conversation with Sanji. It wasn't my first time I had a longer conversation with someone who wasn't a hobo like me, but Sanji was the first one ever to invite me in his house.

I felt like, if Sanji and I were to get to know each other a little bit better, we would probably end up having a lot of fights, but also become good friends at the same time. Talking to this guy was pretty easy most of the time and we definitely had some kind of connection. I was looking forward to our 'date' this afternoon.

Time seemed to progress really slowly because I didn't really have anything to do now that I didn't have to find dinner. I skipped lunch but that was not even worth mentioning. I made sure to be at the backplace at 2.30 and waited there until Sanji came walking out the door.

"You're here!", he said. "I mean, I'm glad you were able to find it. Let's go, right?"

We walked through a park and talked some more. I can't really remember the subjects, I just know that I was having the time of my life. He bought me an ice cream, something I had only eaten a very few times, when I was a kid. He told me his favorite taste was lemon, so I chose that too, since I didn't really have enough experience with ice cream to have a preference.

We headed back to the restaurant around four because Sanji's car was parked there. We walked across the bridge where I slept this night, if you want to call that sleeping. I noticed too late that Leader and his gang were still hanging around in this place. They didn't seem less drunk however, although there were five of them now.

"Hey you! Fucking grass head!", started Leader.

Fuck, I thought, and then: I have to come up with better nicknames.

"Wha'd you think kid? That we'd just leave you alone after you caught us by supprise one time? We'll still kick your ass for treating us like that and there's nothing your pretty boyfriend can do about!"

A lot of different emotions went through me. Anger, irritation and a lot more, I couldn't really indentify all of it. I was about to throw my fists into the faces of these suckers, when I suddenly saw a black flash beside me and before I knew what was happening, Sanji was litterally kicking their asses.

He was like a black whirlwind of legs with deadly precision. I noticed my mouth was wide open because of my astonishment and I quickly shut it. Within a matter of seconds all five of them were once again unconscious. Sanji's face was red, just like mine probably was.

"That, that was…"

"Hey, don't mention it, I know I'm awesome."

When he saw I was still unable to say something that made any sense he explained: "My parents wanted me to be able to defend myself so yeah… and I don't want to use my hands since I need them to cook."

I still didn't know what to say. There was no way I had expected this from Sanji, so I just nodded my head. Suddenly I looked at him in a different way. He might look like you could easily break him in half, with his thin limbs that suggested he never even so much as tasted the food he made, but apparantly, he was a lot tougher than I first thought.

We drove to his place in silence mostly. I guess we both had things to think about. When we arrived, Sanji stopped the car.

"Zoro, before I let you in, there is something I need to tell you." He looked at me.

"I need to prepare you… for my father. He and my mother raised me well and we were a good family…" His expression turned darker. I could see that it was hard for him to continue and put my hand on his shoulder.

"Hey, uhmm… you don't have to tell me…"

"No, you deserve to know, and I really have to tell this to someone. I can get along easily with most people but it's somehow just hard for me to let people in and actually make close friends."

I knew what he meant all too good.

"Okay", I said. "I'll listen." He nodded.

"A year ago, my mother passed away. No one had seen this coming, so you can imagine how shocked we all were. My dad most of all. He and my mother were very happy together, and her death, well, it devastated him. I took care of Yui while he was mourning, waiting for the moment when he would become himself again and we would become a family again, but that never happened.

He started drinking a lot and he is seldom sober. He got in touch with the maffia and I think they're paying him for political influence, but I also heard him getting threatened once. But, the worst began a month ago. We had a fight, something that never happened before but recently became more frequent. He hit me."

Sanji was staring in the distance, while I was listening without interrupting him. He had been keeping all of this to himself and now he needed to let it out.

"I was glad Yui didn't see that. She's only nine years old you know. I don't think he has ever hit her, so at least I don't have to worry about that, but then again, I couldn't imagine he would to that to me either…

So that's how it is now. I wanted to warn you in case he's awake, but I don't think he is, not at this time of the day. And, I also know that you're probably having a much harder time than me, you don't even have a guarantee that you'll have food everyday, but thanks for listening."

I put my hand on his shoulder again. "Sanji, everyone has to struggle through life in his own way, but just because someone else has problems that are probably bigger, doesn't mean yours aren't just as important."

He nodded his head. "Thanks", he said softly.

When we entered his house, which was enormous in my opinion, I saw empty bottles laying pretty much everywhere spread through various rooms. I decided to ignore them, it didn't really bother me anyway, although I saw it made Sanji kinda nervous.

Suddenly a little girl came running towards us. Her hair was even more gold looking than Sanji's so I assumed this was his sister Yui. He picked her up and put her on his shoulders. They were having their big brother/little sister moment so I let them be and checked out some of the rooms on my own.

Everything was very modern and stylish and I couldn't help gazing at the huge television screen in the living room. Sanji found me while I was checking out the enormous fish tank.

"I'm gonna start on dinner, so I'll be in the kitchen. Can you look after Yui for me for a little while? I'm sure you guys will get along."

"Sure. If you, want to, I could clean up a little bit… See it as a payback for the ice cream and the meal."

"That's really nice Zoro, but we have a cleaning lady. She'll be here after dinner."

"Okay, then I'll just do something with Yui, right?"

Yui was great. I understood why Sanji loved her so much. She was kind, enthusiastic and patient when I didn't understand something from the game we were playing and I enjoyed myself really well while Sanji was busy in the kitchen.

The three of us had dinner together. I didn't expect Sanji's food could amaze me even more after my splendid breakfast, but apparently, I was totally wrong. Everything was just so perfectly balanced with each other. I didn't say a word while I was eating, but I think it was perfectly clear to Sanji how I thought about his food through my facial expressions and he seemed to like it.

After we finished our meals we decided to watch a movie, but Yui said she would go to her room so it was just the two of us. I let Sanji pick one and I was actually pretty excited because the last time I watched a movie was ages ago.

The only thing was, I had still slept for only three hours this night and I started to feel it. I didn't want to sleep at all though. I wanted to see this movie all the way to the end and talk more to Sanji about all different kind of things. It was really nice being able to just sit here with him and not having to worry about my life for a moment. After a while Sanji paused the movie and went searching for some snacks.

While he was away it became harder and harder for me to keep my eyes open, and eventually I saw everything around me get blurry as my eyes slowly closed.

AN: it was three AM here when I wrote most of this chapter, so sorry for some mistakes that are definitely in it. I will probably correct them sometime, but not right now XD. Hope you enjoyed anyway...