Warning: Character death.

"Oi, Marimo, look at me!"

Sanji pawed at the swordsman's coat, grabbing fistfuls of it tightly as he pushed down in an attempt to stop the green haired man moving. Under his hands, Zoro's chest was heaving dramatically as he tried to get in air that wouldn't quite come. His one good eye was calm though. Showing his inner peace and acceptance despite the way his body writhed and bucked.

Sanji was covered in blood. It soaked his trousers, the stomach of his jacket and the entirety of his left arm. Every time he breathed he could taste the coppery tang in the air at the back of his mouth, clogging his airways and making him gag. He was choking on Zoro's blood. He placed Zoro's red sash, which he'd wrapped around his hand, on the gash that was deeply set into his stomach. He couldn't take his eyes off it. Blood was oozing out of it, sliding down Sanji's fingers and his wrists in a slow, but never stopping pace. He was bleeding out. His lifeblood tainting Sanji's hands and vanishing into the cuffs of his shirt sleeves.

"You'll be fine," Sanji said, a lie. An awful, awful lie. But he needed hope. If he told himself that Zoro would be fine, he'd pull through. Zoro never let him down, "You'll be fine. Chopper will fix you. I promise. You'll be-"

"You're... a terrible liar... cook," Zoro said through clenched teeth. Sanji looked up, away from the God awful wound, to meet the Marimo's face. Zoro was pale and sweating with the effort to keep breathing and awake. His jaw was so tight Sanji could see the sinews of his neck jutting out.

"Marimo..." Sanji murmured, voice almost cracking as it failed him.

Zoro smiled ever so slightly, the corners of his bloodless lips curving up a little, "It's okay..." His eyes were clouding now, but that only sent a fresh wave of determination through Sanji.

The blonde pressed firmer on the sash over the wound- if he could stop the bleeding now, Zoro might have a chance-

"Damn it, shit cook... Just leave it..." Zoro gasped, a small stream of blood leaking from the corner of his mouth now. A hand, sticky with drying blood, slotted over Sanji's, "It's okay, Sanji."

Sanji tried not to acknowledge the fact the swordsman had just said his name- Zoro only ever said it if the situation was serious. If he didn't hear it then this was all going to turn out okay, this was all going to be fine. There would be a happy ending, "Marimo...?"

Zoro took Sanji's blood smeared hand and held it as tightly as he could, only managing a feeble squeeze in his current state, "I didn't die in vain... alright?"

"But I- it was aimed for me," Sanji said.

Zoro seemed to ignore him, "You have a nice dream, Sanji... Can I.. be a part of it?"

The blonde shook when he realised what this was, "You moron, don't say your goodbyes! You'll look stupid when you wake up and Chopper's fixed you!" His eyes were burning.

He wasn't crying. He wouldn't cry.

Zoro let out a soft gasped laugh, but it was devoid of any happiness, "Little too late... for Chopper. But promise me... I can be a part of it, right?"

"Of course you can, baka!" Sanji was borderline hysterical. How was this happening?! Why did he take the hit?! Zoro couldn't die! He couldn't!

"I know... You'll make the best food... You shitty cook..."

"Please, don't. Just hold on a little longer and-"

Zoro silenced him with a tug born from the last of his strength on Sanji's hand, causing the blonde to be pulled up to face height and their mouths to hit. The swordsman captured his lips and moved his own against the cook who was stunned to reciprocate the kiss for a moment before it all hit him in a wave and he kissed back with even more passion than the Marimo initially gave.

Sanji put everything into that kiss. His fear, his heart ache and the promise to make Zoro a part of his own dream. He could taste the blood at the back of Zoro's mouth, felt the tears finally escape from his eyes but didn't take his lips from the swordsman's.

Not even when Zoro stopped kissing back forever.

"Zoro..."

Sanji stood on the platform, looking out across the ocean. Every shade of blue and green imaginable all mixed into one place. He snuffed out his cigarette and left it broken in the ashtray on the small coffee table and sighed out the last lungful of smoke before entering the building once again.

The kitchen was loud and lively with the clatter and bang of pots and the shouts of the chefs as they cheerily greeted their Head Chef. He smiled politely, bidding his good mornings to them all as he walked through, pausing briefly to grab a plate from the fridge, and opened the double doors to step into the restaurant itself to slip behind the bar.

The restaurant decor was a thing of beauty, all elegant curves, deep sapphire shades and soft pastel creams that reminded him of sea foam. But he wasn't here to admire his restaurant.

He took a key from a small chain around his neck and slipped it into a lock of a cabinet behind on the wall that stood in the centre of the bar and above it so that from every angle of the room it could be seen. He placed the plate from the fridge on the side and set to cleaning up the single shelf. He polished the glass of the photo frame and replaced and lit the incense in the holder with his lighter and took out the long stretched oval shaped dish and wiped it clean before placing the three onigiri from the fridge onto it delicately and putting it back.

He smiled up at the familiar old face looking back at him and took the plate back to the kitchen before opening the main doors and letting Zoro's gaze, forever captured on print, watch as the customers kept on coming and coming. The swordsman always and forever a part of Sanji's dream