"Hello?" Zoro answered as he clutched his phone to his ear, the cold surface of the object leaving goosebumps down his neck.

It was Koshiro on the line. "Zoro, I'm sorry to bother you at such an inconvenient time but my friend just informed me that the last flight to Japan before the competition is tomorrow, have you made a decision yet?"

He hadn't.

Zoro had been distracted by the cook all night, it hadn't left much time to think about the pros and cons of the two decisions he might make, rather, he hadn't been thinking about it at all since Sanji. So he decided to ask the man he respected the most to persuade his decision, to tell him what the right and wrong in this situation might be.

"Koshiro, what do you think?"

A slight pause on the other end. "In order to advance as a swordsman, I think you should take this opportunity and explore the world, that is something Kuina lacked before facing off Mihawk."

Explore the world, Zoro felt like he had heard that a lot more lately, something along the lines of finding your own life and making the best of it, chasing your dreams and expanding your perspective, perhaps he had heard it on a television show or something, but it settled it, the indecisiveness. He decided that this was an opportunistic chance to become a better swordsman and one day defeat Mihawk, by carrying Kuina's soul within him rather than for her, as a vengeance.

They discussed minor details like what time the plane will leave, where he'll reside in Japan, how much money and supply he'll need, things that he'll need to do all night in order to prepare for the next day.

Pack his stuff, tell his friends, and probably meditate to calm his nerves, which might be a buzz of excitement for the competition, the chance to fight some real strong swordsmen all around the world.

Most of his friends sounded either aggravated or tired because it was in the middle of the night that he was making these calls, but the tones of their voices eventually melted into surprise at the mention of Zoro going away. The D brothers wished him good luck, asked him to bring some Japanese food back, the others like Usopp, Chopper, Franky and Brook asked for souvenirs. While he was notifying his friends though, the blond's head popped in his brain and he wondered whether he should inform Sanji also.

There was no reason to, but with the history that thick (for a week old friendship), he felt the need to.

Hmmm...

He meditated, held a comfortable position and didn't think of the cook or anything for a whole hour, felt himself escaping from the present, the floor, the room, the mind. And once he was finished, he was able to think better, contemplate over his choices better, whether he should call the cook or not. It wasn't such a big deal, but for some reason he was indecisive over this matter, as he was over traveling abroad. Was he afraid of telling Sanji? But why him and not anybody else? What made the cook so special?

You don't hate him, I can tell, Ace's voice rang in the back of his mind.

"Shut up, Portgas, I can't concentrate," he growled.

Maybe, I think, you like him back.

"Shit!" Zoro slammed his fist to the ground, aggravated by the intruding voice of his friend's in his train of thoughts.

He wished Kuina was still here, her presence would've consoled him, would've prevented this idea of having feelings for the cook, whom he had shared a kiss with a few months back. Although Sanji had admitted to being completely straight, that he would never have such a relationship with the swordsman, Zoro couldn't help but wonder, do straight men kiss one another? No, probably by mistake, but never so deliberately as Sanji did that night, never so passionately and fervently as though one of them was set to die the next day.

It was obvious the blond liked him, the question was whether Zoro liked him back.

But that would be so cruel seeing how fast he moved on after Kuina's death; and the feelings he held for the cook differed from the ones he held for the swordswoman. There was less direct affection, rather, it was this gravitation of want and desire and need that demanded he think of the cook or touch him when they were close, this pull towards Sanji that he could not explain. It was less of "I love you" and more of "I fucking hate you so come closer, let me touch you, kiss you, make love to you," expressing through action than words, sort of thing.

Was that a confession? Fuck no, it wasn't.

Ace's laughter pierced his brain, a hearty, sarcastic eruption of fits and giggles.

Shut up, Portgas.

Zoro shook his head, relaxed his thoughts by pressing his thumbs to his temples, silencing those dull thuds that pounded his brain.

"ZORO! OPEN UP!"

The swordsman jerked in surprise, wondered who the hell was banging on his door and shouting his name like that in the middle of the night.

He rose to his feet and opened the door to see a load of familiar faces grinning at him, a cluster of them entering before Zoro had a say in anything, just shouts of "Surprise!" while breaking and entering.

Those shitty bastards. He smirked.

Luffy lifted the plastic bag in hand and dangled the clinking booze in front of the swordsman, "I bought a lot of alcohol so we can have a party before you leave. I also brought meat so I could eat a lot." His very presence lifted Zoro's mood, being all positive and anxious-free, like how Luffy usually was.

Zoro's smile widened at the sight of booze, "Thanks Luffy." He wrapped his arms around the bags of those bottles like they were infants to nurture, or drink, whichever.

His friends settled on his straw mat, which was bought in Japan, and they stretched their feet out underneath his stumpy table in order to get comfortable, most appeared satisfied to stretch their legs out and smell the barbecue grilling on the grill in front of them, especially Luffy who held a fork and a knife in his hand, drooling from the corners of his mouth, singing some pirate tune that was Brook's favorite melody to play.

"We're going to miss you, man, I can't believe you're going to be away for two whole fucking years," Ace clapped him on the back, taking a seat next to him with a cold can of beer in hand.

The friends who heard, their faces became a little cheerless, and Zoro did feel guilty about that, but simultaneously, the feeling of being missed and loved swelled his chest; and to those who were the closest to him, Zoro told them how he was to train under Mihawk's wing, and they sympathized with him knowing how troublesome it would be to be taught under someone who killed Kuina. However, none of them tried to stop him, knew what an opportunity this was for him, and since most of them had dreams of their own they didn't dare stop anybody else from pursuing theirs.

It was a great night, it could not have gone better.

Well, Sanji could have been here, but it couldn't be helped, he didn't tell the cook yet.

They drank, they sang, they exchanged stories, and everyone became knocked out in a few hours, in a haze of laughter, bloated with foods in their stomachs, and they all grinned to their dreams. Zoro stared out his window, saw the great view of the city, and in his hand was a can of beer, his head still as clear as a day even though he had drank at least fifteen cans; his body was buzzed, a little, it was calm and relaxed as it was every time he drank alcohol, which was why he liked it so much, he guessed.

Zoro sighed.

In his daze he thought about the funeral and that night when he and Kuina first used real swords against each other, Wado in Kuina's hand and a stolen sword (from Koshiro's room) in Zoro's. It was life versus death that night, he believed, she believed, they were both serious in killing each other. It was the first time Kuina extracted Wado from its scabbard, a gift from her father, and Zoro recalled how white the blade was, so pure, how it glistened like the moon above them, and how it moved with her arm as though it was a part of her.

The white sword.

The swordsman jolted awake.

The white sword!

He needed Wado, the sword that had always been a part of Kuina, the one that held her very soul, in order to topple Mihawk, because rather than fighting him with the pure desires of his own, he wanted to fight him with her. Zoro checked the time, knew he had a limited amount of it, so he grabbed his travel cases and sprinted outside to catch a taxi, left a note behind for his knocked out friends to read.

.~.~.~.~.

Zoro slid the doors of the dojo with his two hands, after he had breathlessly dashed to Koshiro's room in a hurry to find either the old man or the white sword in its scabbard, but surprisingly the two of them were both found inside of the dimly lit room.

Koshiro had a blank expression, no surprise or alert, as though all of the emotions drained from his visage, and it was frightening enough to send a chill down the swordsman's spine, who had to swallow his saliva that had clogged in his throat. The older man's eyes silently gestured for Zoro to sit in front of him, his body direction directly facing Zoro, and in his hand was the sword horizontally resting on his lap.

The swordsman took a seat, respectfully in a formal position, painfully on his knees and his hands on his lap.

"Zoro, it would be foolish to ask why you're here," he began, gently, peacefully. The man pulled out bright papers from the side pocket of his grey yukata, held them out in front of him, "I forgot to give you your airplane ticket, sorry about that."

Huh? Oh, yeah.

But that wasn't his intention, it actually confused Zoro how off Koshiro's guess was since his assumptions were usually on point about others' motives or situations.

"That's not it, I came to-"

Koshiro cut him off, "People are such fragile things, aren't they, Zoro?"

The swordsman remained silent, his eyes focused on Wado, his fists clenched on both sides of his body, and he felt pain in his knees and strains on his back due to remaining in this formal position, but he remained motionless and speechless, patient to what his teacher, his father, had to say.

"Kuina had always been the competitive one, had been practicing in the dojo ever since she was a child, and had exceeded the strength of an adult by the time she was a teenager; and due to this, she became fairly arrogant. Then, you appeared, Zoro, and although she had undermined you in the beginning, you began to grow at a rapid speed, enough to alarm my daughter, who did not want to lose to you. She didn't want to lose to a boy. She became stronger each day, enough to break down the barriers of being a female, to overcome those limitations, to defeat you." He paused, to take a breath, to look into Zoro's eyes, intensely, as though the message was in the silence itself, but he continued to speak, in that low, gravelly tone of voice of a broken father. "I'm just an ordinary father, I did not want her to take this dangerous path; and it also pains me when I look at you, you who only have two paths ahead."

Silence hung in the air like nitrogen, hard to breathe in and impossible to touch, but it was still painful, enough to squeeze his thumping heart, enough to overwhelm him with her voice, her laughter, her memories, enough to remind him that she's dead and that she will never return.

Her body in the coffin, her false beauty painted over her face, with closed eyes as though she was sleeping.

Fuck.

It hurt so damn much, it fucking hurt, and pounding his chest with his fists weren't enough because the pain was internal, beating with his heart, bleeding from the inside.

He sobbed, bit his lips to prevent any sounds from escaping; the tears that rolled down his cheeks came steady, like a faucet, dripped down to his lap and soaked his pants. "Please," he began, his voice echoing throughout the room. "Please let me have that sword."

Koshiro glanced at the white sword in hand, "My daughter's sword?"

The swordsman slammed his fist to the floor, "I'm going to become stronger, for myself and for her, I'm going to become so strong that my name reaches the heavens, and one day, not even a single person will not know my name. I'm going to be the greatest because... I promised her," his voice cracked as more tears fell over. "So, please, I..."

So humiliating, Zoro thought as he wiped the tears with his sleeves.

But when he saw Koshiro smiling at him, with those gentle features, with a slight head tilt, squinted eyes, and a reassuring upward turn of his lips, it relaxed the swordsman.

"I entrust Kuina's spirit in your hands and I trust that you will fulfill both of your dreams."

Zoro respectfully lowered his head, a slight bow, to thank him for his acceptance and kindness, as he took Wado Ichimonji into his hands.

Then Koshiro beamed at him, handed him an envelop, "Here is your plane ticket, Zoro." The two of them stood up, Zoro almost stumbled due to both of his feet being asleep but he managed to walk a few steps to the door, and Koshiro gave him pats on his back before rushing him outside. "Now hurry before you miss the plane."

The swordsman bowed again, grinned like a fool with Wado by his side.

And he could have imagined it but there was the spirit of Kuina sitting on the front porch, cross-legged, laughing, as he ran across the driveway.

It was anxiety that was chewing him up, figuratively, and quite literally with the way he was biting on his nails. His stomach had been unsettled ever since Zoro's leave from his house, so it was more difficult to close his eyes whenever he tried to sleep, and more than three times he got up to splash his face with frigid water, to see the mirror of his own dark shadows and those bloodshot rims surrounding his eyes, to see the sickly pale color of his face. It was beginning to scare him, how ghostly he was starting to look.

It was not until the morning that he felt the urgency to stop by the swordsman's house. So with a facade, which was the lunch he made, just like he did with the bento, except this time it was direct, he decided to see Zoro.

The night before had been casual, relaxed, just like how two friends usually were, and he had taken the pleasure of having the man's company, of being at a complete ease around him, but still, in the back of his mind he felt the prickling guilt of Kuina's death, especially when the swordsman had a difficult time expressing emotions. At the funeral, he watched the swordsman's last moments with the pale woman, the streak of pain, the wistfulness, the sadness, the overwhelming emotions visible on his defined features, and the affection that lingered, Sanji felt many things but not one was as intense as how Zoro appeared.

"Oi, marimo," he knocked on the door of the swordsman's home.

Sanji grunted when there was no reply. He knocked again.

The door swung open after a few abrupt clicks of locks being undone and doorknobs being pulled.

"I can't sleep with this noise, who the hell-?" Nami complained, her fingers rubbing her tired eyes, smudging her makeup, as she came to the doorsteps. She scrunched her face at the recognition of the blond man, "Sanji? Are you here to see Zoro?"

It was startling to see the woman here, but a bit relieving (still shocking) when the whole crew came out, most of them yawning, to see him standing by the door.

"Nami-san? Yes, I came to see marimo, I brought him some food, I didn't realize you were here with others. If this is a bad time, I'll go," he suggested with the motion of turning around.

The red haired woman grabbed a hold of his arm and dragged him inside, "I was wondering where the hell you were, Sanji-kun. I can't believe you! Zoro's leaving today and you turn up late, I know you guys fight a lot but you guys are still friends!" She crossed her arms in front of her chest, gave him a stern look like a mother would, and shook her head disapprovingly.

He knitted his eyebrows.

"He brought food at least!" Luffy hopped beside the blond to eye Zoro's food.

Zoro's leaving? To where?

It was this morning's anxiety that rolled in once more, chewing him up from the inside.

"Hey Sanji," the long nosed man greeted. "Here's a note left by Zoro, I just found it by the desk, if you would like to read it first-." Sanji snatched the note from his hand so quickly, almost in a desperate manner, that the long nosed man had to jump a little in surprise. "-then you can..."

"Sanji, I can have this?" Luffy asked, though he was already eating the content with the metal fork Sanji had brought.

"Yeah, you can have it," the cook murmured under his breath as his eyes skimmed across the note written by the swordsman, whose handwriting had remained the same as before.

Sorry for leaving without a word, I'll be back in two years, don't miss me. Good luck to you all, I'll see you soon, Sanji read out loud to the group. It was too simple, direct and blunt, rustic and stiff, but it was so like the swordsman that it was impacting, enough to make Chopper cry, burst in tears.

"I wanted to say goodbye to him," the doctor whined, sniffling.

"Shishishi," Luffy laughed, and the whole group turned to look at him, with puzzled expressions. "We're going to meet him again anyways, there's no point in saying goodbyes, Chopper." He, too, Sanji realized, was a blunt man of complexities, and although many viewed him as a fool, his words held weight when most unexpected. It was one of the main reasons the crew usually followed him in his troublesome antics, or so he heard from everybody else, including Luffy's own brother.

Chopper grinned, "That's right, we are going to see him again."

The blond no longer paid any heed to the group because his eyes had caught the bottom of the page, where there were two lines written in small letters, directed towards Sanji, and it stirred the dead emotions to rile in his stomach; and it was exuberance that he felt when he read, at the thought that Zoro had remembered to include him in the letter.

Tell Sanji that I left because I didn't have the guts to tell him myself, and as much as he is a bastard he is still my friend. Tell him to not wait around and that I'm sorry, also that he is a piece of shit but I'll miss him.

"Which airport?" Sanji asked, softly, when he finished reading.

"Huh?" Ace raised an eyebrow, as he observed the undertaking emotions beneath the blond's shock.

Urgently, the cook raised his voice, "Which airport is he taking? I haven't settled the matters with him yet, I need to see him before it's too late!" Sanji slammed his foot against the wall and turned around to face the group, almost growling the next words, "Which airport?"

The raven haired man responded, calmly, "It's not too far from here, you know, the one past Water 7 park, a few miles from Drum Hospital, the Enies Airport."

Sanji rushed out, took off before he could even process the information he just acquired, before he could even hear the end of Ace's last word, he frantically ran out the door to catch a taxi.

Nami grinned, placed her hand on her waist as she watched her childhood friend leave,"They never learn, do they?"

"Nope," the straw hat boy replied as he took another bite of Zoro's food.

.~.~.~.~.

Sanji ordered the driver to drive, time ticking in his veins as it was very limited. He did not know whether Zoro had already left or not, or which way he was heading towards, but even with such little information he hoped to see the man, to bring it around full circle, to settle the matters with him.

As always there had been, the pull remained, the dependency of Zoro's presence, or at least the connection as companions, as friends; and it was all a chance, to somehow talk to the swordsman, to meet him in Baratie, to become friends, to argue, fight, laugh, and eventually fall in love. The world remained irrational, as his actions were at the moment, but he knew that this moment was worth taking a chance, that Zoro was worth being senseless over.

He was a straight man, Sanji would never back out on his proud sexuality, but... Zoro, the man with caramel skin color, with those intimidating set of eyes; the swordsman with three swords, with a past as thick as his best sauce, as thick as his own, he was an exception, whom Sanji fell for without any logical explanation. He was an addictive, irresistible, magnetic exception who had no sense of manners, directions, fashion, but had that undertone of kindness and gentleness, strong will, individuality that was so admirable to Sanji, who had always envied him clandestinely, perhaps from the very beginning.

Zeff had always told him to take chances, to compete in cooking, to search for All Blue, to travel around the world and learn various recipes, but he had never listened to his old man, believed that he would do it one day, someday, but never did anything the day of, so meeting Zoro, who acted the minute of, who always took steps without hesitation, like joining an organization and challenging Mihawk (much like Kuina) and traveling to another fucking country (Sanji was pretty sure this trip related to swords), it brought sixteen shades of red to his own face. How dare that bastard be admirable when he, Sanji, had been neglecting his dreams of All Blue up until now.

But what would he say at the airport if they do happen to meet.

The matters between them to solve, what were they again?

The taxi pulled up in front of the airport after ten minutes since the place wasn't that far from Zoro's house, everything in the city was a package, after all, not many things were too far away from each other.

He paid the driver then dashed out, into the airport, through the crowds of people with luggage. He stomped over to the counter and asked whether they had seen a man with green hair, the employees answered with frowns while informing the blond that they were unable to provide information due to the privacy of their customers, some bullshit like that. He not only asked the people at the counter but the securities, the people with travel cases, the ones who were waiting by the chairs, the employees waiting by the doors, and each and one of them answered no.

Shit.

He spotted families and friends, people laughing, people crying, lovers saying farewells without actually saying them, those that were lucky enough to at least have final moments with their loved ones.

This is mad, Sanji thought.

Did he really believe that life would play out like the movies, that there were carefully planned out scenes, and characters meant to interact, that there weren't coincidences but rather incidental plot lines?

He rubbed his eyes because for a second he believed there were fucking tears in his eyes.

The past months without the swordsman had been difficult; life before Zoro had been fairly ordered and straight forward, he had been at Baratie with his old man and the other cooks, they had peaceful days (in not so literal terms), he had still been in love with Nami, believed that she was the love of his life, that she would one day realize how befitting he was to her life and they would get married and have kids, but meeting the swordsman was a change of course, a sudden drop in a roller coaster, feeling high by going low, Sanji can't say whether he was lucky to have met Zoro or not, whether he was dramatizing an accidental circumstance or it really was significant and he was realizing it, all he could say was that he was glad to have met the swordsman.

The cook only wished that if there was to be a closure, it would go out with a bang, or none at all.

Five minutes, ten minutes, twenty minutes passed, he searched and searched, asked and asked, went to each door and waited by it before moving on to the next, climbed up and down the escalator at least five times before he came to a halt in the midst of a heavy crowd, with people pushing to get by. He covered his eyes with his hands, felt hopeless, downright pessimistic, thought the swordsman had left already.

Where are you?

It would be nice if Zoro was standing right in front of him.

Sanji glanced through the cracks between his fingers and looked for the swordsman, the green haired man with his devilish grin, crossed arms, and knitted brows, waiting for Sanji to open his eyes, to be surprised. But no one seemed to be there except for strangers, of course, those who passed by as though he was invisible.

He felt bad that he was standing and not moving, being in people's way, just like the guy behind him waiting to get by, so Sanji sidestepped to the side and murmured a faint apology.

The stranger sidestepped with him.

The blond raised a brow, is this guy an idiot? He turned around with a heavy frown.

"Oi," the man behind him seemed to greet, that stupid shit eating grin sending a thrill down Sanji's spine.

"Luffy told me you'd be here."

Sanji stepped backwards, his legs feelings like liquid, hardly holding up the weight of his body, as he saw the green haired man standing before him. "W-Why are you still here?"

Zoro clasped the back of his neck, beneath his green hairline, as his lips nipped into a small frown, "Thought you were looking for me."

Am I in a movie? Holy shit, how is this happening?

"Shit, bastard, why didn't you tell me you were leaving," Sanji growled, gaining his balance as he stepped forward, clenching his fist. "You could have told me last night, I was running around blind here, thinking I would never see you again." His eyes itched and he thought an eyelash fell into his cornea, but it certainly didn't explain the trembling of his lips and hands, or the shaky, foggy vision that he tried to hide with the back of his hand.

"Cook?" the voice was gentle, unsure, and Sanji hated himself for being this weak around Zoro.

He only wanted to show the best of himself, the charming and kick ass and cooking side of himself, not this pathetic little boy that made his entrance each time he was in the blues.

Zoro dropped his travel cases, abandoned them on the floor, as he reached forward to grab the blond's wrists to pull them away from his tearing eyes.

"Fuck," Sanji cursed, the tips of his ears reddening and dribbles of snot trailing down his nose, as he was unveiled to the open eyes of the swordsman's. "What are you doing, you damn mosshead? If this is some form of consolation, it's unnecessary, I don't need to be babied, I just have an eyelash in my eyes, that's all, it stung my eyes a bit so I need to rub them." He paused as he recognized the sort of look Zoro was giving him, one full of affection and tenderness, one he gave to a lot of his friends, Kuina, and Koshiro, but it was different simultaneously, because it was directed at him, at Sanji. It was a bloat of happiness, a light curve of his lips, and a twinkle in the eye, it got the cook's heart pounding, expanding, until a croak escaped from his throat, "Zoro."

"Cook, I meant to tell you, you know, but you can't blame me for being a coward, I've been that a lot of times lately, which is why when I come back from Japan I'll see you again as a changed man," Zoro told him, earnestly, his hands still on hold of the blond's wrist.

The blush deepened, intoxicated by the profoundly sincere look of the man's, then suddenly Sanji craved for a cigarette because his mouth was yearning for something, anything. Actually, that wasn't true, he knew what he wanted specifically, and it was not a cigarette.

"The flight for Japan is leaving in twenty minutes, the Southwest door will close soon," a woman announced, meticulously, slowly, so it would be impossible for anyone to misapprehend her meaning.

Zoro released his wrist, picked his luggage up, and seemed to perk to the announcement made over the speaker, his tickets visibly tucked into his pant pockets.

"You should go," the blond told him with an encouraging nod.

But the matters are not settled yet... Then again, what matters am I talking about?

"See you later then, curly," the swordsman said.

"Have a nice trip."

Wait, I'm not finished yet, I need to... I need to...

Zoro began to walk away, his pace so relaxed that it was taunting, almost inviting for Sanji to stop him, to tell him.. The swordsman stopped after a few paces ahead, halted before a metal detector, right next to the security where they patted him down and searched through his bag. Zoro took out a paper to probably authenticate the reason he had swords as a part of his luggage, and the workers seemed worried but they allowed him in without much trouble.

Then he continued to walk in further, without a second glance back, just looking forward.

Fuck, I'm not finished, I need to... I need to...

"ZORO!"

Sanji sprinted after the damn bastard, shoved many people out of his way, ran straight across the metal detector for it to beep piercingly to indicate that a metal has indeed been passed through, but his focus merely concentrated on the man, his only chance at sanity.

The swordsman alarmingly twisted his body to meet the crazed blond running full speed towards him, "Wha-" he began to say, but his words were abruptly cut off when Sanji's foot slammed into his chest.

There was a faint buzz in the background but the two only heard each other.

"Hey," Sanji greeted, a lazy smile set upon his visage.

His legs were securely draped around the man's waist and he could almost feel the pulsation of his own chest beating in his ears, and the heavy breathing of his own and Zoro's.

"What the hell, cook, get off of me!"

The blond rolled his eyes as he bent over, as he leaned closer to the man's face. "Marimo, I have to settle matters with you, I have to do a closure with a bang," he talked without a much sense in his words, his mouth opening and closing as an impulsive action. "I have to..."

"Not again, cook."

It was a surprise, but not as much as the first one, it was expected that Sanji would lean over to mash their lips together, but not in a teeth clattering and lips bruising manner like the first one, this time it was much more sensual and slow, more audacious, maybe that's what Zoro hadn't been expecting. There still was a buzz in the background, probably the security making their advances but can't because of the crowd surrounding them. The two remained interlocked by the lips, Sanji's elbows resting on both sides of Zoro's head, and their lips fell into a groove, with the swordsman's part eventually partaking with each breath of Sanji's, each pull of the man's lips with his teeth.

Zoro was kissing back, responding to his display of emotions, affections, and what Sanji was receiving, the passion of the swordsman, it was as frenzied as his own, it was needy and desperate, his fingers clawing its way through the blond's hair, making a circular motion on his scalp; and in comparison to the last time Sanji had exposed himself to the swordsman and had been left empty, this time it was filled, and shit, if this was a metaphor, flowers, trees, a whole forest grew out of that emptiness because Zoro, motherfucking Zoro, was kissing him back.

Even after they pulled away, the taste of metal remained on his tongue, the minty taste of Zoro's mouth, the earthiness of the swordsman, Sanji savored them.

Zoro stared at him from the floor, ogled at the cook in a trance, longing and lust still apparent in his eyes.

"Curly brows, are your matters settled?" he asked, light pants in between his words.

The cook nodded, still highly elated by the fact that this man kissed him back.

"Forever?"

Sanji furrowed his brows, what was this marimo asking? Was he really asking what Sanji thought he was asking? Was he asking whether this was a closure between them or was he insinuating whether Sanji was willing to wait for him until he comes back from Japan?

"If you would like," Sanji answered, face bright from the heat.

Is this really happening?

"I don't," the man confirmed, and he meant it by the way he was looking at Sanji. "I'm sorry you can't go out with a bang, like you wanted, but you are not getting away from me that easily, shit cook," the man said, again with that shit eating grin that just shouted 'I'm a cocky bastard'. Correction, it was more like 'I'm a sexy, cocky bastard."

Fuck.

Not again, there were those eyelashes falling into his eyes, dammit!

The buzz in the background dispersed and the sounds crashed back into his system, the murmurs and cheers of those around him, the angry security guards trying to get through the crowd to him, the announcer saying, "Flight to Japan will leave in ten minutes, the Southwest door will close now, those who are not on board, please do so immediately."

The pair of men pulled off each other, and Zoro cupped his chin, very gently, very un-Zoro-like, brushing against Sanji's goatee, "Cook, I know it's an asshole move to ask you to wait around for two more years, but... you better, shit brows." He paused, contemplative, before he continued. "The answer you want, I can't give it to you yet, I need more time, but after two years, I'll be back and tell you as many times as you want," he promised, determined, those sparks flaring in his eyes.

The euphoria of finding All Blue can't be too far from this moment, Sanji thought, because he was high above the clouds right then and there.

"As many times... as I want?"

Zoro picked up his luggage again, "Don't make me repeat, shitty cook."

The blond grinned from ear to ear as he pushed Zoro's back with the palm of his hand, this time really encouraging, "Better fucking come back as the greatest, you asshole swordsman."

"Of fucking course, bastard dartbrows."

"Shithead."

"Pansy."

"Get going already, stupid marimo!" Sanji growled, chasing him away.

Zoro guffawed before disappearing into a horde of strangers, again without a second glance, but this time Sanji felt more reassured because he knew his swordsman would come back for him. He flushed at the mention of his swordsman, as though he had a full ownership of that bastard, a tattoo across Zoro's chest that said 'Sanji's Property', it was ridiculous but its absurdity did not matter at the moment, the jubilation was what counted. It really seemed like he was a part of an incidental plot line now, like he was a character.

He chuckled, as if.

The securities finally reached him because the crowd had dispersed, they reached for Sanji's skinny arms and held tight, one security for each arm. "Please come with us, sir," they said, both composed as though they hadn't been frantically trying to separate a crowd a moment ago.

Sanji grinned, "Alright, you shitty bastards, I'm coming, I'm coming."

AN: Revised~

Finally! I'm finished, the romance is there but I know you readers are not satisfied yet! There will be one more chapter and it'll be finished.

I think in this chapter there was a lot of tears shed, and in that aspect I think Zoro and Sanji are a lot alike, they're both too prideful to cry in front of others unless it's something really emotional, like the time Zoro lost to Mihawk and the time Sanji had to leave Baratie for real, but they usually hold their tears well, like at Merry's funeral (I was bawling like a baby unlike them). The characters were starting to move on even after the death of Kuina, Zoro and Sanji were progressing smoothly (hopefully), it's just disappointing to the characters that they had to separate so soon after their first romantic exchange, give and take on both sides.

The next chapter is going to wrap up a lot of things, probably not everything, but enough for this story to end satisfyingly.

Please do leave reviews, good or bad, I will most likely respond to you, throw in the judgments and I'll try to do better with the next story. Thank you for reading until now, just one more to go!