.:Chapter 34 - Aftermath:.

Sanji had been up for a while. The Sunny's infirmary was dimly lit, and empty. Quiet.

Quiet, aside from the thoughts in Sanji's head that played the events of the last twenty-four hours on repeat. Of course, for all he knew, it might've been longer than a single day.

It didn't feel like they'd been in captivity at Hollowell Mind Tech for very long, despite it being simultaneously the longest and fastest day of his life. He had been out for most of it, he figured, and he wanted to convince himself that he was still too tired from it all to deal with whatever was facing him outside these walls, but he was honestly wide awake even if his heart was filled with so much dread it anchored his body to the bed.

He wanted to get back to his life with his crew, too. And that was probably the worst of it, because maybe he was more afraid of what that life would look like now. Worried it wouldn't be the same anymore.

There was a familiar, lighthearted ruckus out on deck. Sanji surmised that the sun was setting and the portable fire pit was being set out. There was the distinct smell of a grill's smoke in the air. It only took a small section of Sanji's brain to be bothered by this before all of his nerves were on high alert.

The crew hadn't bothered to wake him before dinner.

Were they getting used to cooking meals without him until they found someone new to take over the kitchen?

Fuck. Calm down. That's stupid, Sanji berated himself, rubbing at his eyes and forcing himself up. They'd had grill nights plenty of times before where Sanji was content to sit back and let an excited Franky take over when he was in one of his grilling moods. It wasn't anything new. There wasn't any reason for Sanji to think tonight was a product of…of what they all now knew about him.

Which was everything. Apparently.

Or, at least enough to put Sanji so far on edge he was hanging by a thread, Hollowell's distinct laugh tethered to his thoughts by a ball and chain.

Those bastard scientists might have been lying jackasses, but Sanji couldn't deny there were truths thrown into the mix. If Nami and Franky could seemingly read what he was thinking solely by watching his face, he really had nothing left that was his anymore. He had no privacy to his own thoughts!

Did they enjoy that? Did it make them feel better because they couldn't trust him anymore otherwise? Did they truly think him too selfish, choosing himself over the crew's dreams, even if that was never his intention?

If they saw it all — every disappointing decision, every ridiculed action, every tumultuous thought — how far off could Hollowell really be? There was no way they had nothing to say about any of it. He had a very vocal crew, after all. So…

What would they say?

How could he face any of them without constantly second-guessing their every motive?

Because you trust them, a small voice prodded from the back of Sanji's mind.

How fine was the line between being cared for and being coddled, though? How would he know if he was relying on his crew or being a burden? He had thought he'd gotten past this anxiety, but now he remembered where it all stemmed from, and—

The infirmary door swung open. Heavy boots that Sanji was usually able to hear beforehand stepped through the threshold and paused. Zoro let his hand fall from running through his damp hair.

"Oh. 'Bout time you woke up."

There was something so normal about the exchange Sanji wanted to scream. Instead, he grumbled back, "About time you took a bath."

Zoro closed the door behind him, rolling his shoulders languidly as his neck cracked. "Had to wash the blood off."

Right. Sanji sighed. He might be wide awake, but his energy levels were lacking. As if on cue, his stomach growled.

Right.

"You haven't eaten in two days," Zoro said seriously. "You need—"

"I'm fine." Sanji didn't need some overgrown mossball swordsman to tell him what he needed. "This is nothing. I've gone longer."

Something dark entered Zoro's gaze. "I know."

Sanji's stomach was feeling more than just the hunger now; the anxiety was back tenfold. "I need to know something…" he started, swallowing hard.

The air shifted. The cook's tension escalated, and Zoro noticed. Noticed the caution, the embarrassment, the uncertainty in the blonde's eyes that seemed reluctant to keep steady on Zoro's own.

"Stop reading me," Sanji hissed suddenly, pushing himself away from the bed and facing the swordsman head-on like he was expecting a fight.

Zoro walked over to him. There was no hesitation in his movements. No room for Sanji to overthink what actions were being taken.

"Hate to break it to ya, Curly, but I could read that face of yours before all this," he said, hands on either side of Sanji's face, angling his head up toward him. Sanji could only stare, dumbfounded for a moment as he searched for whatever else that steel eye was trying to tell him. But then it closed, and Zoro brought their lips together, and the warm pressure melted all the ice in Sanji's veins.

Zoro felt the tension ripple over his fingertips as it rolled off Sanji's body. He softened the pressure of his lips on the other's, pulling back just slightly to breathe him in before kissing him again. Those sweet, soft, smoky lips that never failed to call him a name before going down on him.

When Sanji was the one who pulled away next, he pulled far enough back to keep his partner at bay. "What are you doing?" he asked, voice coming out softer than he had intended. The mossball had a way of steadying his shaky soul.

Zoro remained relaxed. Flirtingly taunting.

"Sayin' I can't kiss you now?"

"That's not what I mean… Unless it's different."

"Why does anything have to be different?"

Sanji pushed away now. "Tell me what you saw."

"Curls—"

"Don't pull that shit! Tell me!" They stared at each other, neither blinking. "Even if I can guess, I have a right to know."

Zoro stared evenly at him. "Fine."

His explanation was brief, the details vague, and certain parts Zoro was quite obviously skimming quickly over, but Sanji got the gist. Got the playback he was afraid of. Everything Hollowell had shown him was there, and then some. When Zoro was finished, he gave the cook a moment before suddenly presenting him with his pack of cigarettes and lighter. Sanji snapped. He snatched them from the swordsman with a huff of reluctance — because of course Zoro knew he needed a fucking smoke.

"So what now?" he demanded. "That's it?"

There was no answer. Sanji met that steel, knowing eye again as the first drag of nicotine finally hit his lungs.

"The marimo has nothing to say? He's going to pretend he hasn't seen every goddamn thought in my head?"

"Actually, I've got plenty to say."

Sanji's body froze by its own volition, even if his expression remained guarded and heated. Zoro's eyes followed the dent Sanji's teeth made in his cigarette before roaming back up to the blue beyond the blonde fringe.

"But the crew's been waiting for you, and I think you need to hear what they have to say first."

Sanji frowned. "What? Hey—!"

His wrist was captured in Zoro's grip and he was all but dragged from the infirmary. So much for thinking the brute would coddle him like an eggshell about to break. Which…was relieving, Sanji realized. The anxiety of everything else was enough to stifle that bit of feeling though.

Shit. How was he supposed to face them after all that? He needed more time to process. He wasn't ready.

In seconds the two were out on deck. It wasn't just the brisk evening air that raised the hairs on Sanji's arms — the whole crew was there, already drinking and laughing, focused on the flames of the ignited fire pit. Then, as one pair of eyes noticed the approaching duo, there was a domino effect, until suddenly it was silent and everyone was staring at Sanji.

Sanji cleared his throat. It sounded too loud in the silence. His cheeks burned.

"I…I don't know what to say…" He just needed noise that wasn't the frantic beating of his heart; yet for some reason he felt like he should be apologizing? His presence had interrupted their good time the same way they had been force-fed his entire life story.

"You don't have to say anything," Luffy said as a grin split his face in two. But that was a normal Luffy expression, and nobody else was saying anything, eyes raking over the cook with a thousand unspoken words. A million hidden thoughts.

Sanji couldn't keep track of every face, and even if he could he knew they were reading him far better than he was capable of reading them.

He felt exposed. Violated. And yet still so fucking guilty. That never-ending war within himself was back and stronger than ever. It had never reached this extent before, because before it was only for him. Now everyone knew about it, didn't they? They were reading his thought process like a map. He didn't want this for him, but more so he didn't want this for his friends. Didn't need his demons to take up a single inch of space in their heads, too.

Sanji looked down at his feet and forced out an awkward chuckle. Better to try to keep things light for them — right? "So…will you guys be dropping me off at the next island or something?"

Silence.

Sanji looked up at them. "You're going to tell me that's ridiculous, aren't you?"

More silence. Several smiles.

"Stop staring at me... Blink dammit!"

Luffy bounded forward with a laugh. "Haha! You're always so funny, Sanji. That is ridiculous. Why would we do that? But…" the captain looked around at the rest of his crew, "…there is something we want to say."

"Yes," Brook agreed, stepping forward. "There is one thing we do want to let you know."

Sanji eyed the violin in his hands. "You're not gonna sing it, are you?"

"Oh. ~Yohohoho! …I could."

"Sanji," Robin interrupted before the musical skeleton could act on any ideas.

Oh no! Don't let it be Robin-chan who breaks the bad news! Because it is bad. It's gotta be bad! The ladies saw so much of what he hated about himself and…

Robin's gentle eyes scrunched at the corners, a sparkle in her irises.

"We wanted to say that — as nakama — we are all so very proud of you."

Their chef's pale eyes flashed in the firelight. He stepped back. Blinked. "Huh?"

Chopper hopped to his feet, still on his chair, smiling brightly. "It's true, Sanji! I mean, you were already someone I admired so much before. But now it's like…" The little doctor stretched his arms out as far as he could.

"Do you even realize how much you've been through?" Nami added questioningly, eyes as bright as the others' as she leaned forward in her chair. "Not just once — but twice! And here you are trying to laugh with us for our sake." She chuckled. "You, Sanji, are one of the strongest people I know."

Sanji didn't even care that his mouth was hanging open like an idiot. Every single smile was directed at him and even softer than before. They were warm. Embracing. Sanji could curl up in them. He felt like he wanted to. The prospect made him almost dizzy.

What was happening?

"It truly takes some guts," Brook agreed. "Not that I would know personally, as I have no guts…"

Usopp jumped forward next, his pint sloshing over his fingers in his enthusiasm. "The way you kept kicking back at the world that was trying to scare you into submission…" the sniper said, mimicking one of Sanji's well-versed sweeps of his leg. "As a brave warrior of the sea myself, I couldn't stop cheering you on! Definitely saw some of my techniques there that I taught you." He nodded like a proud teacher.

Nami used her own Sanji-style kick to the back of the sniper's knees while snapping, "You did nothing!"

Amidst their squabble, all Sanji's fears felt like a distancing nightmare vanishing over the horizon of reality. His crew…was standing up for him? Cheering for him? And…and was Franky crying?!

"YOU CAN NEVER BE REPLACED, SANJI-BRO!"

Luffy laughed loudly. "He's been really waiting to tell you that!"

"Ah…you don't have to…" Sanji stammered. "I don't…"

"Sanji…" It was Jimbei. "I wasn't present during your experience. All the crew informed me about was how they felt about you. Even knowing you a shorter amount of time, I wholly agreed." Jimbei beamed at the speechless cook. "The dynamic of Luffy and every single one of you on this crew is a large portion of why I joined. You must know — you are no exception to that."

Sanji was at a loss for words. He wasn't lightheaded, he realized. Just light. Like he weighed nothing more than a grain of sand on a salty breeze. He'd never floated like this before…

"Look, Sanji," Nami said. "Most of us being this openly verbal about our feelings is probably a one time deal."

"It's awkward as hell," Zoro agreed seriously.

"You haven't said anything," Usopp and Chopper grumbled at him through pursed lips and narrowed eyes.

Nami continued, "We decided to suck it up anyway and make an exception just this once. For you." She winked. "Besides, not only does the Pirate King need his cook, but my maps won't be complete without the All Blue."

Sanji's heart leapt from his chest. "You…you really mean it, Nami-swan?"

"Mmhmm!"

"But," Chopper quipped in sternly. "If you ever look like you need to hear any of this repeated, we won't hesitate to say it all over again! Got that?"

Sanji looked from the little reindeer taking his well-being very seriously to the various expressions of protectiveness and admiration and love, and his throat was suddenly too tight. His heart suddenly too full. They'd seen everything he wanted to forget, yet nothing they were saying felt like an invasion; it felt…oddly comforting. It was like their unspoken words — the thoughts in their heads — were visible to him for the first time.

Because they were letting him in.

To thank him. To tell him that he didn't have to be at war with himself any longer. To say that he had found his way into the path of the sun from the shadows of the Vinsmokes, and he should allow himself to not only be proud of that fact, but to enjoy it.

They were saying they'd be there for him. Always. Not because he was weak, but because they wanted to be. Not because he needed it, but because he deserved it.

He deserved love.

And he had it.

He had them.

Without a single trick or catch or expectation.

Was this what true freedom felt like? he wondered. Like being home, but in someone's heart?

"Your eyes are smiling," Robin noted. She sat with her chin resting in her palm, her own lips curved gently as she watched him. She hummed. "You look exactly like your mother."

Sanji's hands trembled. It was then he realized Zoro's fingers were still wrapped around his wrist. An anchor.

Robin's smile shined brighter, genuine and kind. "Your cooking really cured her heart, you know?"

And just like that Sanji was crying.

All he heard was the pounding of feet before there were arms wrapped around him from every direction, all various lengths and sizes. Hands pulling him close. Foreheads bumping into his. Yet still, those anchoring fingers around his wrist never let him go. Until his own started gripping back, and they were palm to palm, interlocked.

Sanji tried to wipe at his face with his other hand, but there were too many bodies pressed against him. He could only sniffle pathetically. "I'm sorry… I'm sorry…"

"Don't be sorry, Sanji." Luffy's rubbery chin lifted from Sanji's head as the familiar weight of a straw hat replaced it. "Robin makes a lot of people cry."

"Why, thank you, captain," came the archeologist's sweet chuckle, as Usopp mumbled to her, "You can't set him up like that. He's ruthless." Robin only laughed harder.

"It's not—" Sanji sniffed, chuckled, looked up. He smiled so brightly at his crew, blue eyes shimmering a sunny yellow from the evening fire. A look that a little cook had only for his mother.

"For the first time, I think I'm just really happy," Sanji confessed. If his voice broke, at least everyone had the good grace to ignore it.

He was smothered one more time by them all. Franky's giant arms wrapping around everyone and lifting them like a packed Strawhat snowball bringing out laughter, screaming, and several futile flails to get free.

After being unceremoniously dropped back to their feet, the crew was instantly back to their usual selves, bickering and retaliating against their cyborg's extravagant embrace. Zoro yanked Sanji away from the chaos when the blonde was almost trampled by Luffy lunging toward the grill screaming about meat, and then Chopper was pulling at Sanji's pant leg, beckoning him to join him and the others by the fire.

"Anyway, Sanji," Usopp said, trailing behind the cook as Nami and Chopper pulled him and a still-attached-Zoro into a seat between them. "I'm really happy you lived through all that. Life on the sea wouldn't be the same without you. It wouldn't taste as good either."

"True!" Franky exclaimed. "But tonight sit back and relax, because it's bon appetite from big bro Franky! Yow!"

It wasn't long before a famous Franky Burger was shoved into Sanji's hands, and Luffy and Usopp regaled him in the ways they'd escaped their prison cells and discovered a network of captives forced to work under Hollowell.

"Pretty sure most of that was Jimbei," Zoro muttered at one point.

"Don't listen to him." Usopp leaned in conspiratorially. "He was napping through most of it. As usual."

The sniper shrieked, barely managing to dodge Zoro's incoming fist.

"I was only under the influence of that woman's devil fruit for thirty minutes," Zoro defended.

"Try two hours," Nami corrected, unimpressed. "Sanji, we love you, but your choice in a partner is the only thing we really question."

Before Zoro could respond, the vicinity was filled with heart bubbles.

"You love me, Nami~swannn?! Marimo can wait his turn, for my love for you reaches far beyond the moon~!"

A bead of sweat dropped down Zoro's head.

Nami sighed before a small smile lit up her face. "You goon," she laughed, tickling the scruff of Sanji's chin.

Sanji swooned.

"Oi, you're gonna make him pass out again you keep that up," Zoro griped, his arm being the only thing keeping the squiggling cook upright as he melted from the touch.

Nami giggled as Chopper waved his hooves to fan the blonde's face, shouting "Stay with us, Sanji!"

"Hey, Sanji," Luffy plopped himself down, mouth full of ribs. "If we ever run into Germa again…I want to help your sister."

This line of thought surprised Sanji back from the throes of love. "Hmm? Reiju?"

"Yep!"

That was all Luffy had to say about it, but Sanji understood. Of course his captain wanted Reiju to be just as free as he was. He wanted that for her too. It would be harder to achieve, and Reiju could be even more stubborn than he was, but Sanji figured that if anyone could pull off miracles it was his captain. The one person who he already heard everything that needed to be said between them.

As if reading his thoughts, Luffy swallowed a mouthful of meat and flashed a big grin. Sanji grinned back.

It was a strange feeling, smiling this much after the emotions he'd been feeling previously. The dread. The uncertainty. The humiliation. The hurt.

But seeing his captain's grin — the one that promised joy to the world — fully cemented everything else the rest of the crew had said. Everything he'd realized up until now — from the first time he met them all, to Whole Cake, and through Wano — were a manifestation of one simple truth about nakama:

If he could trust them with his future, he could trust them with his past.

There was only one person left that Sanji wanted to hear from. It wasn't until the fire began to dim, and the others were drifting off to their respective beds for the night — maybe there was some alcohol coursing through his bloodstream, too — when he finally got his chance. His head laid in the reclined swordsman's lap, and feeling the blonde's eyes on him, the green-headed brute glanced down.

Sanji pursed his lips. "Well?"

"Well what?"

"What's happening in that algae-covered head of yours? You said you had a lot to say… Is it different than…the others?"

Sanji didn't know what he was doing. Zoro had kissed him the moment he woke up. He hadn't let him go since. He'd had clingy moods before, even territorial ones that burned Sanji's hurt with warmth as much as it raised his hackles; but his swordsman clearly had thoughts about things, and Sanji wanted to know. Because…there were certain parts he never wanted Zoro of all people to ever see. He…he needed to know.

Zoro could probably sense his desperation, too. He took a slow swig of booze before finally saying, "Your family's shit."

The laugh that exploded from Sanji startled them both, but Sanji didn't let up. "Everything you saw and that's what you get out of it?" he was chortling. "Tell me that wasn't the most obvious part, Marimo."

A lopsided smirk played at Zoro's lips. "Zeff and your sister I can respect, though. You are a pain the ass."

Sanji's laughing stopped. "Remind me to never allow you three in a room together."

The lightheartedness faded as something else came to Zoro's mind.

"You should also know that it's…highly likely that Pudding took one of your memories."

Sanji's eyebrow quirked. Out of any memory to bring up Pudding, this was unexpected. He cleared his throat nervously. "What do you mean? I can't say I'm surprised it could be a possibility, but… what could she have possibly taken?"

Zoro was silent. Zoro was…nervous, Sanji realized.

"She could've kissed you. In that alleyway. When you were saying goodbye."

Silence.

"Kiss me? Pudding?!" Sanji smiled softly, amused and unbothered. "Yeah right. She hated me."

"I'm tellin' you, Curls…" Zoro rubbed the back of his head. "She fell for you, ya know? There at the end." He paused. "She makes more sense for you."

Sanji sat up, ran a hand through his hair. Tried to picture what the moss was telling him. It didn't make sense for Pudding to…do anything. So why? There were more complicated insinuations if she had stolen something like that from him, but even if she had… He looked back over to Zoro, who was adamantly not meeting his eyes.

"We make sense, Mossy. I wouldn't have always been so positive about that, sure; but I know now more than ever. The level of trust I have with you… It's hard for me to accept anything good in my life. I'm sure I don't have to tell you that." He chuckled darkly. "There always seems to be a catch or a trick… No matter how much time passes, no matter how much I try to convince myself of somebody, there are some people I'd never be able to trust… That doesn't sound like a 'perfect match' to me. But hey, maybe I am a hopeless idiot."

"No question you're an idiot," Zoro said, the words holding no weight when they were smothered with affection. Sanji snorted.

"This puts you at a disgusting advantage," he told him, changing the subject. "So when I still get the better of you every time, you'll have no excuse to use. I can't wait to watch you flounder."

"Pft. Delusional as ever, shitty cook."

"Crappy swordsman."

"Dartboard brow."

"Cactus head."

Their mutual smiles could be seen from the crow's nest.

"Love-cook," Zoro drawled out. Sanji's eyes lowered to his lips, and his smirk grew. He knew he had him. Sanji knew, too.

Sanji didn't care.

Because here Zoro was — right here — having seen everything he'd done to Luffy, having seen everything he'd tried with Pudding, having heard everything his family and anyone else had said about him, and he was still here wrapping an arm around him so tightly. Edging him closer. Knowing where he wanted to take this. There was a moment of hesitation on Sanji's part, as if waiting — one last time — for Zoro to push him away. But he didn't. And Sanji finally wrapped his own arms around the swordsman's waist, hands roaming and digging into the cloth against his ample back, pressing his face into the skin of his neck. Holding him like his life depended on it. Because maybe it did.

Zoro held him back just as tightly. A sigh blew past his lips, rustling Sanji's hair. "You thought once that the world dared you to love and then laughed in your face for it. You thought that anyone you attached yourself to would end up seeing you as a disappointment. That you'd never live up to their expectations. That nobody could ever love you, and that you weren't even worth trying to love."

Sanji was quiet.

"And I thought… I thought if you were right about that then I wouldn't be feeling all these goddamn emotions about you. So…you know…you were wrong. Like always."

Zoro was kneed lightly in the crotch before the two were wrestling, smiles still plastered to their tired, tipsy, terribly-love-stricken faces.

This shitty muscle-head was the real pain in the ass, Sanji thought. But as their wrestling turned to something more intimate, he could also admit that he was one of the driving forces of his strength. He would never lose with Zoro.

"Will you do something for me?" Sanji whispered against Zoro's lips after a few minutes of hot touches. "Without a dumbass retort?"

"Mm."

Fingers swept through blonde hair, petting, caressing. Whenever Zoro showered him with the affection he'd craved for so long, Sanji's soul became weightless. It left him yearning for more. Tonight, he had soaked up so much love he needed a release.

"Help me forget today…" he breathed against the swordsman's cheek.

Zoro tilted his head away so he could see the cook's whole face.

"Help you forget how cared for you are? How much everyone on this ship loves the hell out of you? Not a chance, ero-cook."

Sanji pouted, fancy brows furrowing cutely (at least in Zoro's unbiased opinion).

"You know damn well I meant the other shit."

Smirking now, Zoro scooped all of Sanji in his arms. "Oh, I'll help you forget."

And he did.

He helped him forget under the mast. He helped him forget at the base of one of Nami's tangerine trees. He helped him forget in front of the aquarium fish, and again against his precious kitchen counters. He helped him forget the most when he had him pinned against the mirror in their cabin, daring his cook to watch himself be loved, fully and without obligation.

He helped him remember that feeling every night after.

OoOoOoO

If Sanji said nothing had changed since the incident at Hollowell Mind Tech two weeks ago, he'd be lying.

For one, he couldn't lie about his feelings anymore, even if they were fleeting and non-consequential, and everyone wanted to help. He had to eventually put his foot down that he was allowed to feel the bad stuff sometimes. It didn't mean he was about to fling himself overboard.

Calibration, Brook had conceded was what needed to be done. A balance between being a friend and being overbearing.

For another, there were also weirder instances. Things Sanji couldn't begin to explain even if he wanted to. At the first island they'd made port at, Usopp had manhandled him hurriedly away from a path where a stray dog was idly sniffing at a bush.

"Quick, Sanji — this way!" the sniper had exclaimed, grabbing his shoulders. "No rabid dog will chase you as long as Captain Usopp is by your side!"

"The hell are you talking about?!" Sanji sputtered in his own cloud of dust, Zoro laughing heartily after them with Chopper giggling atop his shoulders.

Of course, it wasn't all bad (or weird).

The crew, individually, were more open about their own lives with him. He assured them they needn't feel obligated to share their own harrowing experiences in life just because they were privy to his, but it seemed none of them felt forced. It was like their connection to his past made him more approachable when they needed someone to talk to about their own feelings. It gave Sanji a new perspective. He enjoyed learning the why's of how his crew operated, but above all else he was grateful he was there to offer them an ear to vent to or a shoulder to cry on or words of kindness.

Meanwhile, Jimbei had offered Sanji a reprieve when he needed it. When he needed to be around someone who wasn't reading his every thought with scary accuracy. They'd become closer, simply sharing stories of their lives at their own pace.

Luffy was the only one who hadn't changed a single aspect. He was always so in tune with Sanji when he needed it most anyway.

Zoro was more or less the same way.

Sanji dipped his hand into the soapy dishwater and opened the sink drain. As he watched the bubbles swirl for a moment, he thought of one particular afternoon only a couple days after leaving Lunacliff Island far behind them. Zoro and Luffy had been keeping him company while he did inventory. Pretending he wasn't really just there for the snacks, Luffy had brought up Reiju again, which led to a whole assortment of other what-ifs.

There was no doubt in Sanji's mind that he and the Vinsmokes would cross paths again someday, and he told them as much.

"As long as that name remains on my bounty poster, I'll be a target by their sins."

"Don't have to use that name," Zoro had responded. "You can just use mine."

There had been a moment where the entire galley was suspended in time.

"Roronoa Zoro, did you just propose to me?"

Zoro had sputtered. His face turned red when Sanji wouldn't stop laughing, and then he was chasing after Luffy who wanted to go tell everyone the 'good news'.

Sanji started laughing again, now, as he watched the last of the dishwater curl away. That poor idiot mossball. Didn't he know Sanji was the one who was going to propose to him? And when he did it would sweep him off those directionally-challenged feet of his!

Still, there was hope of bringing some romance out of that brute after all, Sanji supposed.

Two arms sprouted from the sink, snatching the dish towel and plate Sanji was drying out of his hands. He wasn't even startled by it anymore.

"Have you done anything for yourself today, Sanji?" Robin asked entering the galley. More delicate hands bloomed, creating a dancing line of dishes. She worked his system expertly by now. "Franky, Usopp, and Chopper are painting woodworks down below. Nami and I are reading in the library."

"Ah, Robin-chwan, how I would love to join you and Nami-swan~!"

Robin smirked knowingly. "But?"

"But," Sanji drooped. "I have a date with the marimo."

Calling it a 'date' was giving it too much credit. Every other night after dinner, Sanji would join the swordsman on the quarter deck to meditate with him. It had taken one bad, panic-inducing nightmare before Zoro had insisted on teaching him his breathing techniques. He claimed it was payback for laughing at his 'proposal', but Sanji understood what it was meant to do. And maybe he couldn't be too peeved about learning anything from the idiot when it actually was helping him cope with his anxiety.

Whatever. Sanji just had to find something to teach Zoro and they'd be even. Could Zoro actually be taught something other than whacking things with swords? Sanji would have to find out.

Zoro was waiting for him, already cross-legged at the edge of the stern, their usual spot. Tonight, the sun was slow to set. Zoro was illuminated by the warm light reflecting from the waves. He popped his good eye open when heard Sanji reach the last step.

"Ready to breathe?" he asked.

Sanji rolled his eyes. "Only you could make breathing sound threatening."

A vein in Zoro's forehead throbbed when loud yelling erupted from the opposite end of the ship.

"I told them to shut up during this time until you're better at keeping focus."

"I can focus just fine! What if you're just embarrassed that I'm actually better at this than you?" Sanji hid his mock laugh behind his hand, taunting eyes squinted to mischievous slits.

"Not even in your dreams, panic-brows."

Ankle met blade with blinding speed.

"I thought you were trying to be a good marimo!"

"I thought you were gonna sit down and breathe!"

A sudden explosion rocked the ship, followed by Luffy's cackling.

"That's it." Zoro had two swords unsheathed now as he stomped off in a retaliation effort, trailed by his storm cloud of grumpiness.

Fitting, Sanji thought, lighting a fresh cigarette and grinning around it.

If he'd learned anything in his time as a Straw Hat Pirate, there was always a storm somewhere in the skies. A storm that more likely than not would steer itself straight toward the Thousand Sunny. The journey Sanji was on would never consist of calm waters and peaceful winds, but he knew — now more than ever — that he was exactly who he was meant to be all along. He was with the people he was meant to find from the beginning.

He listened to the cacophony of chaos that was nakama, and chuckled to himself.

His past might have been revealed, but their hearts would never change.

With them, he was happy.

With them, he was safe.

With them, he was loved.

-END-

I'm crying! It's here and it's finished and we made it and Sanji is LOVED dammit!

Can I just thank everybody who followed along during this story?! You're so patient. And those who've recently found it! And those who will hopefully continue to find it and go through the emotions we went through! Thank you for everything!