I cannot believe I am actually updating this. I am sooooo sorry for everyone who has waited so long for an update. I do hope you will like this chapter :)

For tonight he would sleep here. The others wouldn't even notice anyway. He was the first one to rise each morning because he needed to prepare the breakfast every day.

Apparently his body knew how much he needed sleep right now and granted it almost immediately.

Back up in the crow's nest, Zoro's rage disappeared as fast as it had appeared. He let out a big sigh and slumped down on the bench. He didn't know what to think about this whole mess. He hadn't meant to leash out at Sanji like this. The only thing he knew was that Sanji's reaction had pained him more than he thought possible. Even now it was as if a hand was continuously squeezing his heart.

Yet he felt something worse than the pain. He felt frightened. Because during the confrontation there was a short moment where he had wanted to put his arms around the chef's rigid body.

For him this thought was worse than everything else, because he couldn't understand where it came from. Sure he wasn't sure if the lingering feelings for Sanji inside his heart were caused by Sara's former feelings. However, he knew that her feelings have already left his heart. Yes, at first, shortly after her soul vanished he had still felt all of her affections and confusions but by now the only feelings he felt where his own. Which in return meant that the thought was triggered by his own heart and he didn't know how to deal with that.

That was when he came to a decision. If Sanji wanted to act like a stubborn little girl, fine. If he wanted to sulk and forget about their friendship, fine. However, Zoro can be stubborn, too. If the cook no longer wants to talk to him, than that is fine with him. For now.

After everything that happened it is only natural that his mind and heart are in complete disarray. He will stay away from Sanji as much as possible without their Nakamas becoming suspicious and he will lay low until his mind is clear again. He wants to become the world's greatest swordsman for fucks sake. He doesn't have time to deal with a PMS-ing cook.

There was a faint and small voice inside his head saying that maybe, just maybe, he is just running away from his problems, but he steeled his mind and decided to forget about the last few days. About Sara's memories, including the night with Sanji, as well as about her feelings. They were not his after all, so why should he be influenced by things he had no power over.

With that, he stood up and looked out at the sea, determined to do his job and keep a look out for potential danger.

(*~+~*)

In the galley, Sanji slept restlessly.

He was dreaming about Sara, or more specifically about their night together.

He felt her smooth skin under his finger tips and her hot mouth on his lips. She moved her hands up his arms and down his chest and then around his body to caress his back and to pull him closer to her. He could feel the body heat coming from her as well as hear the faint sighs and moans coming from her mouth.

It felt heavenly to kiss her and to touch her and while he couldn't wait to have her he also wanted to slow down and savour the moment to the fullest.

His right hand moved to her neck and brought her head closer to his in order to kiss her passionately. He closed his eyes and when their mouths parted he could hear only one word spoken breathlessly.

"More"

However, the voice no longer belonged to Sara and when Sanji opened his eyes he saw Zoro in his arms, panting and with a flushed face.

In that moment Sanji woke up. He sat up abruptly and noticed that he was sweating, out of breath and had a raging hard-on.

The image of Zoro's clearly aroused face came to his mind and he couldn't get rid of it. He was confused that the image didn't kill his boner, however he knew that as long as he couldn't get that face out of his mind he would not be able to jerk off comfortably. Therefore he decided to take cold shower.

On his way to the bathroom his mind was reeling. He was thinking about Sara and about the time the two have spent together, he remembered how Zoro looked when his body had turned back into his and noticed that they had just kissed. Or rather, Sanji had just kissed Sara for the last time.

When he turned on the faucet he couldn't even feel the cold water. He only felt the numb pain of losing Sara and the little pang of guilt when he noticed that a small part of his mind would have preferred it if Sara had stayed alive and Zoro had been gone.

And that little pang of guilt was the trigger. While the cold water was running down his body and his hair was dripping he grit his teeth and came to a decision.

Yes, he had loved Sara like he had loved no other woman before. Yes, there was a short moment where he had wished to spent the rest of his life with her and yes, he was the happiest man on earth because she had felt the same. However, he could not let his life be dictated by that. She was gone now, or rather, she hasn't really been here anyway. It was a fleeting memory of her soul, they could not have lived happily ever after, no matter how much they wished for it.

He made up his mind. He would cherish the memories of the time he had spent with her and he would forever treasure the feelings she had invoked in him. After all, he never would have thought that there would come a time where he would love only one person. He would cherish and treasure everything about her but he could not let this stand in his way from reaching his life-long dream of finding all blue. And he knew that if he stayed lethargic, it would have stood in his way. He needed to have a clear mind in order to support his Nakamas. Journeying with them was his safest bet to fulfill his dream after all. And by now, reaching all their dreams, has also become part of his dream. Be it Luffy's dream to become the Pirate King or even Zoro's dream to become the world's greatest swordsman. When he decided to become this crew's chef, he decided to not only cook for them, but also to support them and therefore to help them reach their dreams.

That is why he will from now on keep his memories of Sara in a small part of his heart and lock them, so he can give it his all. However, he knows that Zoro could trigger everything, so he decided to stay away from him as much as possible without it being too obvious for the rest of the crew.

With that he stepped out of the shower and noticed that the sun was about to rise.

Therefore he dried himself off with a towel and went to the galley and vowed to make the best possible breakfast for the best crew in the world.