Zoro wasn't sure how late it was, he just continued to stare forward at the exhibit in front of him. He could have taken out his cellphone and checked the time, but to be honest at the moment he hated the contraption. His mind was still fresh and soaked with the memories of the life he lived nearly two thousand years ago. His body still hadn't stopped shaking.
Even equipped with new memories that somehow made sense to him from this new day and age, Zoro felt empty and foreign - plucked from his time period and dropped somewhere else where he was completely lost and expected to live. But he had died. Zoro had died and he'd never realized it. His entire first life, the original life he'd lived, had become nothing more than a memory . Every adventurous risk, every thought he'd had or action he'd taken or even the love he held had been kept so many lifetimes away and out of his reach all this time. Instead, he was left to roam this earth until now, building a life he wasn't sure he agreed with, but had unwillingly been granted.
And to top it all off, if his own life wasn't already a shattered mess he couldn't even begin to gather pieces of, he'd forgotten something else that made him feel lower than scum. The one thing that made the possibility of any sort of life in whatever situation had slipped through his fingera as well. Sanji had died and he'd never realized it. Hell, in this new body, this new world, it was never given a thought who he was or the relationship they'd had.
Damn, his heart ached like the hand of a god had reached into his chest to squeeze it themselves. Sanji. Even knowing he was also here, reborn in the new age just as he was, it didn't soothe the guilt Zoro was carrying on his shoulders nor calm his anxieties. He should've known, back then, to be able to have been stronger and saved him to spare him this kind of life as well. It shouldn't have had to be like this, at least for him, there could have been another way, but instead he was forced into this joke of a second chance beside him.
Were these thoughts that continued to prod at Zoro's mind appearing to Sanji as well? Hell, who knew what was really happening here. The blond had decided to walk away from Zoro the moment of recollection so who knew if it wasn't even that big of a deal to him. Maybe he had been spared the memories and it was only the former soldier here who was lost. Part of Zoro told himself that would probably be for the better. Sanji, if he was able to, deserved a flourished life to follow whatever dreams he wanted. And certainly he wouldn't wish this mental identity crisis on him, or any of his enemies.
Or maybe that was just Zoro allowing himself, in his grief, to be cowardly. Truth was, when it came down to it, he didn't know how to approach Sanji. The last time he'd really spoken to him - as seen in the glass case for anyone to observe- had been in their last dying moments. Things were said but arguably there were dramatics, they were going to die, things could have been done simply for the heat of the moment, even if Zoro sincerely hoped they weren't. Given the chance after a catastrophe, who wouldn't want a fresh clean slate? Or would definitely not want to be associated with the other corpse hardened in ash with someone else.
Zoro was so distracted in his thoughts, his eyes pinned to the small openings in the morbid statue where Sanji's former face, encased poorly - in his opinion, knowing how heavenly the blond had really looked - that he didn't pick up on the sound of footsteps in the empty halls. No, he was too busy inside his head thinking of a time that had already passed and how if he'd only known, the things he would have done better. In fact, it was only when the second intruder onto this historical exhibit, since of course it wasn't exactly a 24 hour convenience store, reached the opening to the room and glanced around the many glassed artifacts from their previous world, that Zoro released he wasn't exactly alone.
The former soldier took a deep breath, readying and relaxing his body to try and not appear so tense before turning his solemn face towards the blond. In this life time, his eyes had already peered on Sanji several times and thought nothing of him. He had impressions that he was annoying and bothersome, nothing more than an oblivious ladies man. Zoro could only imagine, from the few memories they had together this time which mostly revolved around anger and irritation, the thoughts the baker had about him. Honestly, the way things seemed in the best way Zoro could piece them together on the spot, it was almost like in this life specifically they weren't supposed to be together or close at all.
Sanji seemed rather relaxed and unfazed if his expression was any indication, his hand slid lazily in the pocket of his pants. He visibly shifted the weight on his feet and began to approach the bench himself.
"Now what are the odds," Sanji paused only to shoot a glance at their former selves, then back at Zoro, purposely avoiding his eyes and instead scanning his body to cure his disbelief that they were out here instead of in there. "Even in reincarnation, your hair came out green?"
Zoro waited a moment, allowing Sanji to take the seat next to him in order to share the once in a lifetime view of their corpses, before letting out a huff in response. "You don't look half bad yourself."
Then came silence. What could have even been said in such a moment? Both of them just stared ahead at the frozen scene, both probably replaying their perspectives from their memories at that exact moment. Leaving them both understandably speechless.
Zoro swallowed hard, pulling his attention away to glance at his former love beside him, taking in his presence. Well, there wasn't any sort of awkward chatter he could use from his memories to make this situation any better, so he felt he might as well get to the point and just say something, anything. The longer they sat there in silence was another minute wasted they might never get back, wasn't it? Because if one lesson was certainly learned here, it had to be something like that.
"You actually came. Earlier, you seemed to want to get away as fast as you could," he paused, pursing his lips in concentration. "Thought for sure you'd ignore my message."
Sanji sighed, looking down at where his hands settled in his lap and slowly clenched into fists. "Just needed time to think. We can't all bounce back so quickly with these new memories, Marimo."
Marimo. His new modern nickname, or insult, that Sanji often referred to him as. It was interesting to hear in this situation, but only continued to remind Zoro that times had definitely changed. But at least he had the closure that Sanji said he'd spent time thinking about this mess from his perspective. It both worried and caught the former soldier's curiosity just to think of what answers he may or may not have reached. Surely, he knew as well there was no going back, there was only the option to embrace and deal with this future they'd been given. However, even in realizing the fact, Sanji could deny him here, wanting to pursue his clean slate, so Zoro was forcibly holding himself back.
Sanji was just as handsome as he remembered, wearing the same old expressions he used to. Just watching the blond from the corner of his eye and seeing the way his chest rose and fell as he breathed had Zoro dying to reach out and embrace the one he'd lost. But he resisted the best he could, he had to give Sanjj the freedom to choose. After all, their souls had never truly been able to be intertwined in ceremony to one another despite vocal promises. Other than a once obvious love, there was nothing holding Sanji to Zoro and the Marimo needed to respect that even if he hated it.
"I don't suppose we can just go back to being as we were and act like nothing changed, can we?"
Sanji let out a huff, getting out a cigarette from his pocket and a lighter - fully taking advantage of the fact they were the only ones here and rules could be broken freely. "If only it were really that easy."
Zoro's eyes watched and trailed the smoke until he glanced back at the glass. Yeah, that would be too easy, wouldn't it? If Fate gave you a second chance to live, would you really live it in the same exact way?
The blond leaned back on the bench, spreading his arm around the back and breaking in his smoke. "So, did you go and see where your wife was now?" He let his curious words linger, his eyes keeping far from the former soldier.
His wife? The hell if Zoro had even given her the slightest thought in the whole time he'd recalled his past life. She wasn't important to him, she came from a darker part of his life that constricted his freedom - and besides, it wasn't exactly her form that he'd died covering when the disaster had occurred. Although it should have been obvious, at least Zoro thought so, she hadn't held a candle to Sanji even after all this time and a new life.
Zoro furrowed his brows irritably just at having to imagine her face and remembering how much her existence had always made things more difficult than they had to be. "Why would she matter?" He turned his eyes back to Sanji, taking in the side of his face while he refused to meet his eyes.
"Tch." Sanji crossed his legs, glaring back at him, no doubt hating his attitude towards her even now. "She was your wife, bastard. There was a bit of an eternal commitment there, you owe it to her."
He owed her nothing. Till death do them part, yeah well, they both died and as far as he was concerned, she was nothing but a stain on his track record. He shrugged, not finding the energy after such a long time apart to argue about this already again, just like old times. "Why would she matter to me now? I told you once before and I'll say it again. You know damn well I always found you instead."
Sanji clenched down on his cigarette. "Took your damn time finding me this time," he muttered, averting his eyes down. There was something about using one of the last things they'd ever said to each other in their previous lives against him that made him rather quiet.
"Oi..." Zoro's face softened. He hadn't meant to use it in a way to upset the other, but it didn't matter, Sanji took his arm back and sat up.
"Listen, Marimo, I'm not going to stay here all night staring at our bodies, alright? If you have something you want to say, then say it." Swiftly, he pulled himself up and took a few steps towards the case, taking one last good look at it. They both knew this was a temporary exhibit, after all.
Zoro looked down at his knees and pulled himself up. Like he waited two thousand years and now had the opportunity to speak to Sanji again and would just let it slip through his fingers. He stared at the back of the blond's frame and carefully thought over his next few words until all he could think to say was something he needed to vocalize.
"I'm sorry."
Sanji's body tensed up and slowly he peered back at Zoro with a shocked expression; it clearly hadn't been what he was expecting to hear. And for some reason, even in the bad lighting, it was almost as if he slightly paled as well.
"...What?" His brow rose and he turned around to face him. Something just didn't make sense. "Why? There was a volcano, you idiot, there was nothing you could've done."
Zoro averted his eyes. "No, but we died. We didn't get to mourn or grieve about it, we just got tossed into these new lives..." He paused. He wasn't good with this type of apologetic cheesy shit, so it was hard for him to exactly piece his thoughts together. "I know you wouldn't have wanted it to end that way, our deaths and everything between us."
Sanji visibly clenched his jaw and shoved his hand into his pocket, keeping himself composed even when his expression showed he was obviously thinking. Then after a few moments where Zoro wasn't sure if he would just run out again or not, he sighed.
"Is this the part where you suggest second chances?" he asked, his voice softer than before.
Zoro looked at the case. "There's a lot more to the world than we last thought. It would be pointless to try and understand it alone."
The blond let out a dry laugh, wiping at his nose before looking back at the Marimo. "I'm finally in a world where I could have my own harem at my disposal and you would show up to steal me away. Asshole."
"Didn't take a volcano this time to make me realize." Zoro shrugged, figuring that was just enough logic. "So are you going to make me wait?"
He practically already knew the answer though, slowly raising his hand out as if to offer it to the blond he'd waited centuries to be reunited with. He watched as Sanji analyzed it, his face that had previously paled, now reddening.
"Who acts like that these days? I'm not just going to take your hand or something, shitty Marimo, I'd rather die."
That was definitely an attitude that wouldn't ever change and it wasn't a rejection either. It made Zoro grin as he took his arm back to his side.
"Suit yourself, but you should be glad we're all alone. I can't guarantee what I will or won't do in public." It was a heaven sent, at least, in this time there wouldn't ever be too much of a protest against them that they honestly couldn't handle.
The blond shifted his weight on his feet, contemplating it, before giving in and moving closer to Zoro. Not directly in front of him, he wavered off to the side, letting his body fall against him and his chin to rest at his shoulder. Zoro knew what he meant by it and he didn't have to say it out loud, but when he did, it still relieved him.
"I missed this."
Author's Note: I had such a strong urge to continue this on so I hope that you really enjoy it XD I may even write more to add in the future.
Thank you Myladyday for betaing this for me
and if you enjoy this AU as much as we do you should check out her new fic, "Through the Ash" which is set in the same universe. Its really good XD and we may make drabbles in this au together.