Summary:
-I thought a lot, all this time... I still have feelings for you. No, I mean, what I felt never went away, no matter how much I tried to deny it or bury it. When I look at you... I still feel butterflies. I can't describe how happy you make me.
-Listen Cook... Sanji...
-Wake up, mosshead!
Zoro just opens one of the eyes and yawns.
-You're the only one awake and I could use some help cleaning up the mess that Luffy and the others left in the kitchen.
-tsc, I'm woken up to play maid?!
Sanji lights a cigarette to ease his irritation and having to swallow his pride to ask for help. But also suppressing emotions he struggled to ignore.
-There is a bottle of sake from the special stock waiting for you.
Zoro gets up, grabs his swords and heads to the kitchen, without thinking or looking twice at Sanji.
As usual, they divided the tasks naturally and helped each other. Zoro had finished tidying up the dishes and sits at the table, while Sanji finished cleaning the counters.
-More sake Ero-Cook !
-I'm not your employee, marimo, go get it yourself!
Zoro snorts, but gets up and goes to the cupboard to get another bottle. As he turned to go back to the table, Sanji, who was passing by, bumped into him. Their faces are very close and the tension they both feel is noticeable.
-Are you blushing for me, nosebleed boy?
-Shitty swordsman, be aware of personal space!
Zoro, in the heat of the moment, grabs him by the waist and leans him against the closet, supporting himself with one hand.
-Those lips...
-What do you think you're doing, idiot?
Zoro continues to look at him intensely, without letting him break his gaze. In that moment of tension, Sanji loses his temper and begins the kiss that would change his routine. As he had imagined, Zoro's lips, despite being rough, were delicious to feel, especially with that sake flavor. For Zoro, that kiss was necessary, he needed to have those thin, soft lips against his. What was supposed to be just a kiss ended up in both of them prolonging that moment so desired and repressed. Zoro lets go of his waist and moves away from him, picking up the bottle he had placed on the counter and sitting back down at the table.
-Will you accompany me, Ero-Cook?
Sanji, still glued to the closet, takes a few seconds to assimilate what had just happened. He puts his fingers to his lips, lets out a smile and prepares to light a cigarette as he walks to the table.
That spring night, when they had left Arabasta, emotions finally spoke louder than shame. Words that were never said, because actions spoke louder. During the day they continued their constant rivalry, but when night came and the rest of the gang went to rest, they both allowed themselves to let their guard down and enjoy each other's company.
(...)
Sanji wakes up and doesn't see Zoro anywhere, his heart pounds with fear. He goes looking for it and that's when he finds it. Standing, with torn clothes, covered in blood, and a lifeless look. "Nothing happened", those words cut deeper than knives or glass. That vision of the person he was beginning to love caused a pain he couldn't understand, but he didn't want to feel it again.
(...)
-Dumb browns, I missed you in bed.
Zoro finds him standing on the deck looking at the sea that night when the moon was not shining.
-You're an idiot, an idiot swordsman.
Zoro tries to grab him to steal the kiss, but is stopped by a kick from Sanji that almost hits him, if he weren't faster even though he was injured.
-tsc, what's wrong with you?
-You. The way you took that pain and are here you are looking for me, as if you weren't all hurt.
-I only did it to save you, to save us all!
Zoro, taking advantage of being more muscular, grabs Sanji by the arm and in the movement of pulling him towards him, steals a kiss from him. A kiss that for Zoro was a drug to calm the physical pain. A kiss that for Sanji was bittersweet, because it was also a drug that he couldn't get enough of. When the lips come apart, their eyes meet, but soon Sanji looks away again to the sea and lets go of Zoro.
-Zoro-kun
The only sounds that could be heard were the waves hitting the ship and their hearts beating hard.
-I don't think I'm able to continue this...
Sanji lights a cigarette and expels the smoke, avoiding Zoro's surprised look.
-The pain of thinking that I had lost you when I woke up, the anguish of having found you in that state, the weight of knowing that you are too much for me.
-I knew you were an idiot, but not as much as a weak-ass cook.
(...)
After Sanji finds Zoro in Sabaody, his heart doesn't fit in his chest. It had been two long years of living a miserable life and the thought that helped him overcome that hell was that his idiot mosshead was still alive, so there was still hope in trying to remedy the terrible mistake he had made. He just didn't expect to find a completely different man in front of him.
-I thought a lot, all this time... I still have feelings for you. No, I mean, what I felt never went away, no matter how much I tried to deny it or bury it. When I look at you... I still feel butterflies. I can't describe how happy you make me.
Sanji closes his eyes, feeling emotional as he remembers all the moments they both spent together. Zoro crosses his arms and looks him in the eyes.
-Listen Cook, ... Sanji ... After you rejected me ... more than two years ago ... I got over how I felt about you.
Sanji exhales deeply, in an attempt not to be crushed by those words that hurt like knives.
-Sorry- says Zoro, placing his hand on Wado.
-Damn, maybe in another life- says Sanji, lighting a cigarette and looking passionately into Marimo's eyes one last time before facing the rest of the gang.
-Maybe... Ero-Cook- says Zoro who is already ahead, hiding his expression.