Archive of Our Own ^beta

“Is curly home?“
Zoro stood in front of the doors to the Baratie's kitchen. His chest was moving up and down, his breath loud and rapid, having run from the dojo to the ship the second his training was over. He knew Koshiro ended class early. He knew he had watched him look out of the window, hoping to see the floating restaurant from there and he knew he took pity on him. The Baratie hadn’t been in the port of the Shimotsuki village in weeks which means he hadn’t seen Sanji in weeks.

Zeff sighed, his gigantic hat standing proudly on his head. Zoro didn’t understand how it didn’t fall from his head. Maybe he should start wearing tall hats too so he could learn to control his balance better. He was sure it would help him on his path to become a master swordsman.

Zeff turned his head inside the kitchen and yelled, “Eggplant, your friend is here.“
Zoro snorted, finding the nickname Zeff gave his son very amusing.
“Why are you laughing, string bean?”, the mustached chef returned his attention back to him.

“Hey, don’t call me that”, he stomped his feet on the ground, hoping it would intimidate the man. He knew it wouldn’t. Sanji had told him that Zeff used to be a feared pirate and no pirate would ever be scared of a child. But he could try.

“I can call you whatever the hell I want, especially when you kidnap our professional potato peeler on a regular basis”, Zeff crossed his arms, “Now Patty has to do it and he always peels them too boxy.”
He shook his head, “At least he can practice now so maybe I have to thank you, string bean.”

“I don’t kidnap curly”, he mumbled, sure that Sanji likes spending time with him just as much as he did.
Zeff looked at him, a small smile behind his braided mustache.
He pointed to his hip, “I see you got a new addition.”

Zoro smirked, touching the two wooden bokken with his hand, “I’m pretty good with two blades now. Not much longer and I will defeat Kuina.”
“First you gotta defeat my eggplant.”
Zoro’s eyebrows scrunched together, “I defeated curly a lot of times already!”
“He tells me he kicks your ass a lot”, Zeff’s smile grew mischievously, a pointy edge to it. Like this Zoro could see the pirate that the chef used to be. His body shivered. He hoped he’d have a presence like this one day where a smile could make others shiver.

“Then he’s lying. He kicks my butt just as much as I kick his”, Zoro told him, setting the record straight.
“So he isn’t lying. He does kick your ass.”
Zoro growled, “You’re annoying.”
“What an insult. You’ve wounded my pride, kid”, he put his hand on his chest to showcase the pain that his insult had caused. Which from the look on his face must be nothing.

He needed to ask Sanji to teach him more bad words so he could insult his father properly. His sensei at the dojo didn’t talk nearly as foul as the cooks at the restaurant, giving him no opportunity to learn vulgar words.

Then, finally, Sanji’s head appeared from behind the doors.
“Marimo, you’re late. Got lost again?”
Sanji was dressed in his white cooking clothes which had a red splash on the front. Probably soup or some sauce. Zoro didn’t know much about food.
“I didn’t get lost”, he spat back. It wasn’t his fault that the road from the dojo to the coast got longer with every journey he took.

“Maybe you should ask for directions next time.”
“I don’t need to ask for directions.”
Sanji laughed, his head falling forward and his eyelids hiding the deep blue of his iris.
“Your face was so funny”, he said between his laughter.
Zoro could feel his cheeks heat up. He couldn’t let Sanji humiliate him like this, he needed to say something in return.

“Well, your face always looks funny because of your-”, he tried to come up with a flaw on Sanji’s face, falling short on that end. So he named the only unusual thing on Sanji’s face, “Because of your curly eyebrow.”
Sanji’s hand shot up to cover his eyebrow and he stuck his tongue out. Zoro returned the gesture.

“Okay you two, be nice.”
“We’re always nice”, both of them said at the same time.
“Jinx”, Sanji yelled and jumped in triumph for being the first one to say it. To have fallen for the oldest trick in the book, Kuina would be disappointed.

Zeff sighed, “No one told me that parenthood meant to put up with dumb shit.”
He shook his head and then said Zoro’s name three times, freeing him from an afternoon as a mute because Sanji would not have said his name and Zoro took the ‘Jinx curse’ very seriously. More because Sanji would call him a quitter if he didn’t stay mute the whole time until he heard his name three times and less because he believed in the curse itself.

“You’re spoiling all the fun, geezer”, Sanji pouted.
“You two haven’t seen each other in weeks and now you want to spend your afternoon with Zoro refusing to speak?”, he looked down at his son who shook his head slightly, “Exactly.”

Sanji took a few steps to Zoro and put his hands on his shoulder to push him out of the restaurant, “We’ll be going now.”
“Have fun on your play date“, Zeff waved them goodbye.
Sanji turned with his whole body to face Zeff, ”It's not a play date you old geezer. We don’t play. We fight!“
”Yes”, Zoro agreed with him, “We have serious battles.“
Zeff snorted, ”Okay have fun on your serious battle date.“
”Thank you.“

They ran down the stairs and then between the full tables in the dining hall, a few heads turning to look at them. Arriving outside Sanji brushed his fingers through his bangs, both of his eyes visible for a short moment. Zoro could only stare at him.

“Come on curly, I know a great place near the port.”
“Are you sure you’re going to find this great place?”
Zoro pushed Sanji’s face away with his palm, his cheeks burning the second time this day, “I don’t get lost. I'm actually great with directions.”
“Are you now? I mean a lot can change in a few weeks”, Sanji seemed to consider this for a moment before he started laughing.

“I’m going to kick your butt so hard”, he mumbled, watching Sanji laugh at him.
“I wanna see you try mossball.”
“You’ll see me try”, he spat back, arms crossed in front of his chest.
“Okay.”
“Okay.”

He took Sanji’s hand and dragged him behind him. There should be an open grass space somewhere here. It was on a hill with a view of the ocean; they should be able to see the Baratie from there. If only he could find it.

After a few right turns and even more left turns, he finally found the hill and started climbing it. At the top he let go of Sanji’s hand to put both his hands on his hip and show Sanji the place he was talking about, proof that he wasn't bad with directions.

“This place really is great”, Sanji’s eyes roamed over the ocean, smiling when he found the Baratie.
Then he turned to him and smirked, “But you did run in circles for a while.”
Zoro growled.
“But I applaud you for finding it in less than an hour.”
“Applaud?”, Zoro laughed, “Who talks like that?”

Now it was Sanji's turn to growl, “I talk like that. You got a problem?”
Zoro smirked, anticipation spreading in his body,

Zoro loved fighting Sanji. He didn’t need to hold back and he knew Sanji didn’t hold back. And it was nice to win too. Sanji wasn’t someone he needed to defeat, he was someone he could spar with. It was fun.

“Zeff taught me a new kick, wanna see?”
Sanji’s eye shone under the open sky as he returned Zoro’s smirk. His foot twitched slightly, the movement almost unnoticeable but Zoro caught it. Sanji was just as excited as he was.
“Do you think the kick is good enough for the new two sword style move that I learned?”
“Only one way to find out.”

With that Sanji readied himself, his right leg in front of his left one and held a bit higher. Zoro took both of his bokken in his hands without looking away from Sanji. He took a few steps back, watching Sanji’s legs and waiting for an attack.

When Sanji leapt forward he was ready, blocking his attack with both of his bokken. He pushed him away, Sanji falling back a few steps. He held his bokken ready for one of his new techniques, not one to beat around the bush for too long.
Before he could touch him Sanji let himself fall back on his hands and landed on his feet, his knees bending slightly.

Sanji had told him he was still working on making this move look smoother. Zoro didn’t see anything wrong with it, his body moved elegantly in a way he knew he himself could never achieve. His legs weren’t as flexible, he focused on training his legs for strength instead of flexibility. He stretched them sometimes but even then he still couldn’t touch the ground when be bent over.

They exchanged some more blows, both hitting each other a few times- their skin would turn blue in a few hours- until at some point they decided to call it a draw (even though Zoro was sure he won but Sanji wouldn’t have any of that).

They sat on the ground, the grass soft and rich green, white flowers sprouting from it. Sanji was telling him about the new recipe he was trying out, waving his arms up and down excitedly and a small smile on his lips.
“The geezer won’t let me serve it though”, he groaned, “He says I’m too young to serve customers and that my food isn’t ready.”
He ripped some of the grass from the ground and threw the stalks away angrily.

“I’m sure he only means best.”
“I just want to help”, Sanji fell back on the ground, spreading his limbs like a starfish.
Zoro smiled, “He told me you were a professional potato peeler.”
He rolled his eyes, “It’s because it’s the only thing I’m allowed to do. Besides cleaning and watching the others cook.”
“I thought you also serve the food”, Zoro looked at him, the sun shining on the other’s face and making his hair look like gold.
“I’m not a waiter! I’m a cook.”
He nodded but didn’t respond, sure that no matter what he said he couldn’t ease Sanji’s frustrations.

“How are things at the dojo?”, Sanji asked him finally.
Zoro shrugged, “Nothing new. Kuina is still a know it all. We train a lot. That’s it.”
Sanji kicked his shin, “You need to be nicer to Kuina.”
He rubbed his shin and stuck his tongue out, “I don’t need to do anything.”
Sanji glared at him.

Zoro didn’t look at him, having had this stupid conversation a few times already. He just couldn’t understand why Sanji acted so differently when he was around girls.
“Don’t ignore m-“, Sanji began, voice loud.
Zoro stood up, “Is that a spider?”

Sanji jumped and clung on Zoro’s body, his hands clenching around his shoulders and digging deep into his skin, “Where is it?”
He looked around frantically, his head turning to all directions, “Zoro you have to kill it. Use your stupid swordsman skills for something good.”
Zoro chuckled, feeling proud of himself for having successfully made Sanji shut up about his “women-lecture”.

After some time Zeff came looking for them and told them that it would be getting dark soon and that they shouldn’t walk around alone anymore.
“Do you want to eat dinner with us, string bean?”, Zeff asked him.
“I can’t, I have to go back to the dojo but next time I’ll stay for sure. Thank you old man.“
Zeff furrowed his eyebrows, staring him down.
“I’m not old.”

“Yes you are”, Sanji said, sticking out his tongue.
“Eggplant, you will be cleaning the dishes tonight.”
Sanji gasped, “Only because I called you ugly and old. Only for speaking the truth?”
“No need to be so dramatic”, he paused, “And you only called me old you little shit, there was no mention of ugly.”

Zoro smiled at them.
Zeff put his hand on Sanji’s head and ruffled his hair which made Sanji squeak.
“Come on Zoro, we’ll walk you to your dojo”, the older chef let go of Sanji’s head and turned his attention back to the green-haired.
Sanji grinned at that, his hair sticking out in all directions, “Yeah Zoro, we’ll walk you to your dojo because you’d never find it without us.”
Zoro jumped forward and tackled Sanji to the ground.

“If I get a headache because of your screams, you’ll have to do the dishes for the next two weeks, eggplant.”
Zoro laughed at that.
“Don’t laugh”, Sanji kicked him but it didn’t make him stop laughing.

-

The mainland of the Shimotsuki village was tiny in the horizon; in an hour they wouldn’t be able to see it at all, instead they’d be fully surrounded by the endless sea. The sun stood deep in the horizon, preparing itself to dip under the ocean surface and let the night ascend. For now the sky was still bright blue with a hint of orange.

Sanji had his arms on the railing, watching Shimotsuki grow smaller by the second. The Baratie created small waves on the water, the white ocean foam coating them. When the water hit the ship just at the right angle and his arm was hanging low enough some of the saltwater could reach his skin.

“Eggplant”, Patty opened the door to the deck, “Stop staring at your little friend’s island and come sweep the floor.”
He pushed himself off the railing and turned to face the big chef, “Stop ordering me around and I wasn’t looking at the island, I was just catching some fresh air. Maybe if you’d do that more often your brain would work better and you’d cook some better food.”

“None of those insults are going to get you out of your sweeping duties, brat”, Patty smirked and crossed his arms, his forearms seeming even bigger like this, “And I heard you were also on dish duty. This is going to be a long night for you.”
Sanji groaned, “I do everything in this restaurant.”

Patty shook his head, “Stop sulking and come inside, it’s getting cold.”
“Fine”, he walked to the door where Patty put his hand on his shoulder.
The Baratie was empty. The chairs were placed on the tables, the floor waiting to be swept. They didn’t have any customers when the ship was moving. They were a restaurant after all and not a sea taxi.

After he swept the floor and did the dishes (the others helped him even though he told them he could do it alone) he grabbed an apple from the kitchen and went to the living quarters. There he found Zeff with his glasses on, going through some important looking papers.

Sanji sat down on the cushioned armchair and started eating his apple. He stared at the ceiling, his head raised and resting on the top of the backrest.

Zeff had hung up some stars on the ceiling that glowed when it was dark. There were some in his room too but he preferred these. Sanji knew that Zeff had them installed for him and to have them in a room where they both spent time in, made him feel loved. Not that he’d tell the geezer.

“Are you getting that algae something for Christmas?”, Zeff asked suddenly.
He lowered his head, eyes fixated on the older chef.
“Is that-”, he began, feeling stupid for even asking this question, “Is that something friends normally do?”
Zeff’s features tightened like they often did when Sanji asked unusual questions or when behaved differently than other children.

Sometimes he felt like Zeff knew. And sometimes he wanted to tell him. About the cold kingdom with the heartless king. But he never could, the words stuck in the back of his throat and his lips sealed shut. Maybe those memories weren’t supposed to be spoken out loud.

“Yes eggplant”, Zeff’s voice brought him back to reality, his thoughts unclouding. Zeff stood up, stretching his neck and walking up to Sanji.
“Zoro doesn’t want anything though. The only things he likes are swords and Kuina”, he told him.

Zeff put his hand on Sanji’s head and kneeled down so he could see directly into Sanji’s eyes.
“You’re a smart kid, eggplant. I’m sure you’ll come up with something.”
He nodded slowly, swallowing down the growing lump in his throat.

Zeff ruffled Sanji’s hair, the movement light on his head, “Come on. Let’s go steal some ice cream from downstairs.”
“We own this restaurant”, Sanji reminded him, “So it wouldn’t be considered stealing.”
“I own this restaurant”, Zeff corrected him, “But I’ll give you this ice scream for free because I’m such a generous owner.”
Sanji grimaced, “I don’t need you to be generous. This is still my home and I can eat whatever the hell I want in my own home.”
Zeff smiled at that, his mustache moving with his lips, “Can’t argue with that.”

-

Kuina looked down at him. He was sprawled on the floor, one of his wooden bokken in his hand and the other laying somewhere next to him. Her single bokken was pointed to his chin, that smirk growing even bigger as she watched him clench his fists. His finger slid against the floor, the dirt grains digging under his fingernails.

“Win number 1131”, the bokken was still pointing to him, “I’m still better than you.”
He grinded his teeth together. He needed to train even harder. Maybe if he slept less, he could squeeze in some more training.

“For now”, he pushed the words through his lips, “One day you’ll be the one on the ground and I’ll be looking down at you.”
She moved the bokken away from his face, a smile forming, “That day won’t be in the near future.”

The wind ruffled her hair, the dark strands falling onto her face. She pushed them away and tucked them behind her ear.

Zoro sat up, his white shirt full of green grass stains but he didn’t care. He looked to the side, frustrated with yet another loss.

Kuina sat next to him, brushing away the grass from his shoulder, “Any ideas for your Christmas gift for Sanji?”
“Why would I get curly a gift?”, he frowned. Sanji didn’t mention anything about wanting a gift.
“Because you two are friends, no?”
“We’re not friends”, he crossed his arms, his cheeks burning against his will.
“Oh sorry, you’re best friends”, Kuina smiled, a mischievous edge on it.
His cheeks only got redder but he didn’t deny it.

She chuckled, hiding her mouth behind her hand.
He mumbled some unintelligible words, embarrassed that Kuina could see right through him.
“Friends give each other gifts, Zoro and I’m sure Sanji is going to give you one.”
Zoro straightened up at that, the wheels in his head turning noticeably, “You’re right. I’d look stupid if he was the only one giving a gift.”

Kuina hit him in the head, “That’s not why we give gifts.”
Zoro rubbed the sore spot on his scalp, glaring at her and hoping she understood the underlying threat that he’s going to get her back for this.
“This is a perfect opportunity to show Sanji how much you like him.”

She smirked as she watched his face grow even hotter than before, “You could write him a letter telling him how much you like him.” She singsonged the word “like”, making him want to crawl into the ground and disappear. Which of course he would never do because hiding isn’t something Roronoa Zoro did.

He tried to ignore the way she tilted her head to the side so she could see him better to smile at him with that evil smile of hers. She opened her mouth to say something but Zoro interrupted her.
“I'm not listening to you”, he covered his ears with his hands to emphasize his words.

She rolled her eyes but the smile stayed on her lips as she leaned back on her hands and turned her gaze forward.

Zoro took a deep breath in. He couldn’t see the ocean from where he sat but he could smell it in the air. The smell always reminded him of Sanji.

He furrowed his eyebrows, his hands falling away from his ears and a little spark of panic growing in his stomach, “What do you think he’d want?”
Kuina shrugged, “I gave you an idea and you didn’t like it.”
He pressed his lips together and shook his head. He wouldn’t write Sanji a letter.

“And you're his friend not me”, she continued.
He groaned, falling back on the ground.
He needed to buy Sanji the perfect gift. He stared at the sky above him, frowning. This would take up so much of his time.

-

Sanji had a plan. He was going to spy on Zoro.

Carne stood behind the helm. He was sailing to Shimotsuki with him on a small errand boat. Zoro was dumb but even he would notice the Baratie standing in the port and that’s why he had forced Carne to help him.

“We’re having so much fun eggplant. We should do this more often”, Carne sighed, “Eggplant and his favorite uncle Carne on adventures.“
Sanji straightened his black hat and glared at the older chef, “We are on a top secret mission, this is not an adventure.”
Carne apologized and grinned at him. That idiotic chef was having too much fun with this.

“You stay on the boat in case I’ve been spotted and need to escape”, he told Carne when they arrived on the shore, “I’m counting on you.”
Carne wiped away a fake tear and gave him a quick hug, “I’m not going to let you down. Good luck.”
He nodded, avoiding Carne’s eyes because he knew his face revealed too much emotion regarding that hug and he didn’t need Carne to get presumptuous.

He gave him a thumbs up and walked off the boat.
Because this was a top secret mission he needed to come in disguise. He was wearing black clothes, so he could hide in the shadows, and glasses and a mustache to hide his identity. No one would recognise him like this.

“Sanji? What are you doing?”
Kuina stood next to him.
“Kuina!”, he screeched, his heart jumping out of his body from surprise, “I didn't see you there.”
She squinted her eyes, analyzing his outfit, “What exactly are you wearing?”
He put his finger on his mouth, “You need to be a bit quieter.”
He looked around, “I can’t have Zoro see me. I’m on a mission.”

“A mission?”, she asked with her eyebrow raised.
He nodded but didn’t give her any more details.
“Please don’t tell Zoro I’m here.”
“I won’t.”
He exhaled, relieved that his plan hadn’t already been ruined.

Kuina looked him up and down and shook her head.
“I’m going back to the dojo, Zoro should be there”, she pointed her finger into the direction of her home, “You can come with me if you want.”
“I would love that. Thank you.”

He fell into step with her, his hands on his sides.
“You look beautiful by the way”, he smiled at her.
“Thanks I guess.”

She cleared her throat, “So why are you dressed like a thief?”
He looked down at his clothes, “Do I really look like that?”
She nodded.
“I thought I looked like a spy…”
“Okay so why are you dressed like a spy?”
“To spy on Zoro of course.”

“Aha”, she said slowly, “Of course.”
He nodded and explained further, “I need to gather some information about him.”
She looked at him from the side, “I see.”
“It’s about his Christmas present”, he covered his mouth with his hands, not having planned to tell Kuina everything about his mission, “Please don’t tell him.”
She shook her head, a small smile painting her lips, “I won’t.”
He exhaled again, relieved once again that his plan wasn’t ruined.

In front of them the little water stream appeared with which he remembered the location of the dojo. The water was a lot quieter than that on the open sea. He always saw it first before hearing it.

“Do you think you can hide me somewhere in the dojo?”, he asked her.
Kuina thought about it for a second, “You could hide in the closet. There are some spare bokken and weights stored there but we usually don’t open it during training.”
“That sounds-“, Kuina put her hand on his mouth and pushed him behind a tree trunk.

“Be quiet”, she whispered to him, “Zoro’s right there.”
He nodded and she took her hand back to herself, his mouth free again.
He carefully looked to the entrance of the dojo where Zoro stood talking to some other boys. His gaze wandered around the building. The window was open.

“I’ll take the window”, he told her, “Can you distract him for five minutes? That should be enough time to sneak in and hide.”
She nodded and wished him good luck. With that she walked towards the group of boys and greeted them.

He waited until Zoro turned his back to him and then crawled to the building, his knees scraping the mud underneath. He hid in a bush, took one quick glance at Zoro, reassuring that he wasn’t looking in his direction and then continued his crawl to the window.

He put his hands on the windowsill and then heaved himself up. With one of his knees on the sill, he could push his whole body up and jump inside. With a loud thud he landed on the wooden floor. He looked around and found the closet Kuina mentioned. He opened it and pushed the materials inside to the side to make room for himself.

A few moments later a large group entered the room.
“Hey Kuina, let’s fight before the lesson starts”, Zoro said.
For a split second, Kuina’s gaze fell to the place she knew Sanji was hiding in before she returned to Zoro and nodded.
“The result won’t be different than last time though. You’re not the only one who trains Zoro.”

Sanji had never witnessed one of the many fights Kuina and Zoro had. He couldn’t see everything from his hiding spot but he heard the exchanging sword clashes and Zoro’s focused grunts in between. He also heard a loud thud, the sound of Zoro falling to the ground.

Zoro lost. He knew Zoro had never won against Kuina but seeing him defeated with that deep furrow between his eyebrows, staring up to the victor of the fight, hurt Sanji. He knew how much Zoro trained and how much he worked his ass off. He also knew how strong he was.

Sanji wasn’t one to hurt a woman and if he could, he would stop all the pain women bore but seeing Zoro on the ground, his hand covering his eyes and lips pressed tightly together, made him wish that Zoro would do exactly that. Fight Kuina and defeat her.

Kuina took one look at Zoro then at the closet and left the room; but not without announcing the updated number of fights won. Kuina had fought and defeated Zoro 1132 times. The door clicked into place when it closed behind her, the sound ringing in Sanji’s ears.

“Loss number 1132”, one of the dojo boys said, “Maybe it’s time to let it be. How many more times do you want to lose?”
Fury grew in Sanji’s body. If he weren’t on a top secret mission he would beat the boy up for even indicating that Zoro should give up.

Zoro stood up, patting his pants with his hands, a determined look surfacing on his face, "As many times as needed.”
“Kuina is just too strong for you“, another boy said.
Zoro grunted, “Then I’ll get even stronger.”

Sanji nodded in approval, still hidden in the closet. The boys were unaware of his presence and they were unaware of the gift idea that started forming in Sanji’s head.

-

Zoro did not have a plan.

His mind was blank when he tried to think of ideas for Sanji’s gift. How could this be so difficult? He just needed to get Sanji something that he might like. Maybe a new kitchen knife. Sanji would like that.

Zoro shook his head. Sanji lived in a restaurant with a hundred knives and he knew that he had his own set in the Baratie. Sanji didn’t need more. That scratched all cooking utensils from the list too. Which was fine, Zoro didn’t even know where to get them. But that also meant he was back to zero.

Maybe he should ask Zeff or the other cooks. They probably knew what Sanji wanted.

He nodded to himself. That was a better plan than nothing. He would ask the chefs for a little help. Fortunately, the Baratie would come again before Christmas so he had exactly one day to talk to them and hopefully get an idea.

The air was humid. It has rained the whole night leaving the grass wet and muddy. There were water puddles on the ground and worms crawling around them. Sanji would probably hate those insects.

He grinned to himself, thinking about carrying one of them inside to scare Sanji but then he reconsidered. Not only would Sanji not talk to him for the rest of the day but Zeff would yell at him for bringing insects inside his restaurant and he needed Zeff to be cooperative today. So no worms.

Before he even opened the door he could already hear yelling inside. Most of it was Sanji.

He entered the restaurant and saw how Sanji stood next to a laughing man. Sanji’s fists were clenched together and anger was written all over his face.

“Hey kid”, the man said, “Don’t get mad at me.”
He put his hands in the air, “It’s a nice fantasy but don’t go around believing it.”
Sanji’s whole body shook.
He laughed, “And aren't you a bit old anyway?”

That made Sanji jump from his place and attack the man. Two Baratie chefs jumped into action too and held Sanji by his arms and torso, his legs kicking free.
“Let me go”, he yelled, “I have to beat up his ass.”
“Sanji!”, one of the chefs that was holding him tried to reason with him, “Calm down.”

That made Sanji only angrier which made the chefs hold his body even tighter. Sanji must’ve realized that he wouldn’t get to kick the man because he decided to spit on him.
“I’ll find it”, Sanji screamed, pinching and kicking the air as he was held by three different cooks now, “You’ll see.”

The spit on the man’s face wandered down his cheek, “What a disgusting child you are. Your family must be so disappointed in you.”
Sanji’s face fell and his body froze for a second.

The Baratie was quiet. Zoro’s arm hair stood up, the mood change in the air affecting even him.
“What did you say?”, one of the chefs that had been holding Sanji asked.
The man didn’t reply, the spit trail on his cheek shining under the bright lights of the restaurant.
“He asked you to repeat yourself”, the other chef asked, his arm protectively in front of Sanji.

The man scoffed, “I just said that someone should teach the kid some manners because no one wants to have a child like that.”
“We want a child like that”, the chef said, walking up to the man, rolling his shoulders back, “We want a child like him.”

He took the man by his shirt and carried him to the door. Zoro took a step to the side so he didn’t stand in the way.
“Don’t come back”, the chef threw the man out of the Baratie and grunted when he closed the doors behind him, “He didn’t even pay.”

The chef went back inside looking for Sanji but the blond had already disappeared. Zoro ran upstairs to the kitchen, wanting to find Sanji himself and try to comfort him. Zeff stopped him in front of the doors.
“He probably doesn’t want to see you right now.”
“But he shouldn’t be alone”, he retorted.
“I know”, Zeff sighed, “I’ll go to him.”

Zeff shook his head, “They’ll never take his dream seriously.” The wrinkles on his forehead seemed deeper than normally. He looked tired.
“I take his dream seriously”, Zoro said.
“The world won’t.”
“The world doesn’t matter.”

Zeff looked at him, “That’s a very sweet but also ignorant thing to say, string bean.”
He crossed his arms, “The world matters to Sanji because he cares and he’ll continue to care until the world burns down. We should just remind him that he’s cared for too.”

Zoro didn’t say anything to that. He looked to the side where he could avoid Zeff’s heavy gaze. There was a round window there with a view to the ocean and the smell of fish from the kitchen danced in his nostrils.

And suddenly, he knew what he wanted to give Sanji and he hadn’t even needed to ask for help.

-

He opened the drawers in the kitchen.

“Geezer! I need to buy a sword shaped cookie cutter! How is it that we don’t have one? This is unacceptable! This is a restaurant for fuck’s sake.”
“These shitty cooks are not good for your mouth eggplant”, Zeff turned from his kitchen station to look at him, “You’re seven and already talking like a sailor.”
“Fuck you I’m nine.”

He rummaged through the drawers again, sticking his hands to the back of them and trying to feel if he maybe overlooked something. But there weren’t any cookie cutters.

“We can go buy your stupid cookie cutters. There should be some in Shimotsuki.”
“No! We can’t buy it there”, the mosshead could see him, it was too much of a risk, “what about that island with the big apple tree? They should have them too, right?”
Zeff raised his eyebrow and then answered, “Sure.”

Zeff turned his attention back to the stove. Sanji played with them of his cooking clothes.
“Geezer?”, he said tentatively, his voice a lot calmer than before.
“Yes eggplant?”
“I-”, he stammered for a second before he pulled himself together, “Can you give me your cookie recipe. I really liked those you made last Christmas.”

Zeff looked at him, a very soft expression on his face. Like this he didn’t look anything like the man that got stranded on the rock in the middle of the ocean. He reminded him of the man that asked him if he wanted to run a restaurant with him. And of the man that had made Christmas cookies with him last year.

“You want the family recipe?”, Zeff asked him.
“Eh”, Sanji wasn’t feeling so sure of himself anymore. Technically him and Zeff weren’t really-.
“I’m joking”, Zeff interrupted him before he could finish the thought, “What’s a family recipe worth if it isn’t passed on, right?”

“Don’t go soft on me now, geezer”, Sanji whispered.
His cheeks felt warmer and he turned his face away from Zeff, hoping he didn’t notice. But by the way the older chucked to himself he knew he did.

Now that he had the perfect recipe and secured himself the perfect cookie cutters, he only needed one more thing.

“Can we buy some paint too?”

-

“You’re thinking very loudly Zoro, it’s affecting your way with the sword.”

This was another thing he needed to improve then. He shouldn’t let himself get distracted by his thoughts and he should be able to perform these techniques in his sleep.

“Do you want to tell me?”, Koshiro asked him.
He didn’t want to tell him about Sanji’s dream and how some people looked down at it. It wasn’t his place. And maybe he didn’t want to tell him about how he thought that Sanji could do anything he set his mind to and that Zoro wanted to be there for him. He didn’t even understand those feelings enough to put them into words.

“It’s just that Christmas is around the corner”, he answered after some time. He put his bokken away.
“Didn’t you say that Christmas was a waste of time last year?”, his sensei chuckled.

“That was last year”, he answered. He brushed his hair back and sighed.
“I’m getting Sanji a gift”, he explained. Koshiro listened to him, his gaze fixated on him.

“I need to buy him the best gift ever. I need to prove I’m better than him at giving gifts.”
Koshiro shook his head but there was a faint smile on his lips, “And you don’t have an idea?”
“No, I have an idea.”
“What’s the problem then?”
“I dont have money”, he confessed.

Zoro wasn’t a thief. He had tried before. Before he lived with the dojo children and before he knew Kuina and her father. But he walked too loud, and wasn't nearly as stealthy as he needed to be. And his hair wasn’t the best to hide in crowds too. Everyone could recognise him in a group of people and that from miles away.

And he didn’t want his gift to be stolen. Sanji deserved better.

“Sensei?”, he straightened up, “If I clean the whole dojo for the next few weeks, will you give me some money?”
Koshiro tilted his head to the side.
“I swear I’ll clean it up well. The whole place will shine from cleanliness.”

Koshiro didn’t say anything
“I’ll use a broom and a mop and soap”, he listed all the ways he knew how to clean a room, “I’ll even clean the materials-“
His sensei laughed and stopped his ramblings, “There’s no need for you to tell me all you know about cleaning.”

He put his hand on his shoulder, “I’ll give you what you need.”
“Thank you sensei”, he took his bokken from the floor, “I’ll continue to train afterwards. Me and the boys wanted to go to town anyway.”
There he could look for a store that sold Sanji’s gift. Therefore, when he worked for and got his money, he’ll already know where to get it.
He sprinted to the door, his steps a lot lighter than they were before.

“And Zoro”, Koshiro yelled after him, “If you ever encounter money problems again, don’t hesitate to come to me. I want all my students to be well looked after.”
Zoro slowed down and turned to him, “Thank you.”

He put his hands together and bowed, a practice he didn’t do nearly enough and he also knew he wouldn’t change that in the future. But he was grateful for his sensei and he wanted him to know that.

-

Sanji had dragged Zoro to the crow’s nest of the Baratie. He sat with his legs crossed on the wooden floor, feeling anxious. Which was stupid. He was just giving Zoro some gifts, this shouldn’t be so hard.

The crow’s nest wasn’t big. Both of them could sit comfortably but there was no room to fight in. Not that Sanji planned to fight Zoro but one never knew. It was morning, the sun was swimming above the ocean and birds were chirping around them. The restaurant below didn’t have a lot of commotion, with lunch only being in a few hours and with it being Christmas morning.

“I got you a gift”, he said, showing him the bag where he stored Zoro’s presents.
“Me too.”
Sanji blinked. He had been so fixated on getting Zoro a nice gift that he hadn’t considered the possibility that Zoro might be getting him one too.

But then again that’s what friends did. They gave each other gifts. Sanji smiled. He should’ve seen this coming.

“Let me go first”, Sanji looked at Zoro who gave him a small nod. He reached for the metal box and gave it to him.
Zoro took the box and opened it after Sanji told him to.

“I made them myself”, he thought back to the night before where Zeff had supervised him during his baking session, “I, eh, never gifted anyone something I cooked or well baked in this case. I hope you like it.”
Zoro took one out of the box, looking at the sword shaped cookie before he took a bite out of one.

“They’re not sweet”, he said, surprised.
“Of course they aren’t. I know you don’t like sweet stuff”, Sanji paused, “I put lemon in it. Do you like it?”
Zoro took another one and shoved it into his mouth.
“Yeah, they’re really good curly, thank you.”
Sanji smiled.

“I have another gift”, he told him.
Zoro’s eyebrows raised at that.
Sanji reached into the bag again and held the small, unwrapped item in his hand for Zoro to take.

“And- and this is a lucky charm”, Sanji said quietly, “Maybe with this you’ll win against Kuina for once.”
He bit his lip and added a bit louder, “But you know don’t hurt a lady or I’ll kick your ass.”

Zoro stared at it and then took it from him, their fingers brushing.
“It’s just a rock that reminded me of you. It’s round and look there”, Sanji showed him a little dent on the surface on which he had painted a face, “there’s a little furrow. Exactly like the one on your forehead. Because you’re always so serious. And I painted it green because of your hair. It looks like you. Like a marimo.”

Zoro looked at the painted rock and then at Sanji. Nervosity grew in Sanji's body.
“If you don’t like it, I can take it back. It’s just a rock anyway. It was a stupid idea.”
“No”, Zoro yelled and held the rock near his heart, “This is my lucky charm. You won’t get it back!”

Sanji felt his cheeks grow hot, “Oh.”
He cleared his throat, “I mean if you like it that much, I guess you can keep it.”
Zoro examined the rock in his hand, a goofy smile on his lips. He brushed his thumb over the painted face.
“Thank you”, he whispered. It was quiet but Sanji caught the words, a warm feeling spreading in his chest.

Zoro put the rock in his pocket and said, “My turn.”
He pushed the present into Sanji's hands, his eyes nowhere near Sanji’s face. The blond unwrapped the gift (the wrapping was clearly done by someone else, it was done too nicely).
“You got me a book?”, he asked when he finally got the wrapping off.
“It’s about fish”, Zoro explained as he pointed to the cover, “From all around the world.”
The smile on his face grew in size, “Thank you.”
Zoro’s cheeks were red, “Open it.”

Sanji opened the book. On the first page right behind the cover, on a sheet that was nothing but blue, the words “I’m sure you’ll find it” stood there in bold black. The words were scribbly and uneven but Sanji didn’t care.
He reread those words a few times, trying to engrave them behind his eyelids and trying to engrave the curvy lines of Zoro’s handwriting on his heart.

“You learned how to write for me?”, he joked, ignoring the way his eyes started to burn.
“I could write before!”
Zoro glared at him but his face was too pink to take the anger on his face seriously. Sanji had to suppress a laugh at the sight.

“You know it’s the truth”, Zoro began, scratching the back of his neck, “What I’ve written. I really do believe in you and if someone’s ever mean to you about it, I’ll kick their butt.”
“I can do the ass kicking on my own”, he reassured him, “but you can help me slice them.”
Zoro grinned at him.
“At least when you get a real katana and not some wooden stick.”
Zoro’s grin fell a bit and Sanji let out the laugh he had been trying to suppress.

“This was a wonderful Christmas gift”, he said after his laughter died down and Zoro was looking at him with an annoyed look on his face, “Thank you Zoro.”
He leaned in and put his lips on the other’s cheek. Zoro’s finger touched the skin where Sanji’s mouth had kissed him, the area even redder than before. Sanji wondered if Zoro felt the warm and tingly feeling too.

“Consider that my third gift. I know how much you love the number three.”
If Zoro got any redder, his head would turn into a tomato; it already had the green leaves. Sanji had to chuckle at the sight. It looked like he made the mosshead feel flustered.

-

13 years later

“Is curly home?”
Zoro’s hand rested proudly on the hilts of his three swords. He could hear whispers downstairs where customers were eating dinner, the sun standing low in the horizon and painting the sky with reds and oranges.

Zeff sighed and turned his head inside to the kitchen, “Eggplant, your husband is here.”
Zoro couldn’t suppress a smile at that title. They had been married for almost a year now but it still filled his chest up with pride and joy. He loved being Sanji’s husband.

Even though this husband was probably going to yell at him for being away for three months. It was not his fault that he couldn’t find Mihawk. It was like he was playing a treasure hunt with him. Sanji should blame him for his absence.

“I feel like I have to warn you, string bean”, Zeff told him, “He’s been bitching around more than usual.”
Zoro pressed his lips together, his guess proven right.

Sanji appeared in front of him, his arms crossed in front of his chest and his leg tapping on the ground.
“Don’t get too loud”, Zeff said before returning to the kitchen, his head shaking.

Sanji looked beautiful. His hair was longer than the last time he saw him. It was braided behind his back, a few loose strands framing his face. He wanted to reach out and tuck some of those strands behind his ear.

He tilted his head and smiled at him, feeling inexplicably happy. Sanji didn’t return the smile, instead a frown appeared on his lips.
“Come with me”, he told him, pointing his head to the direction of their shared room.

He followed Sanji, having a perfect view on his ass, admiring his lover from behind. He hoped Sanji would get over his anger quickly. He didn’t want to spend another night alone.

They entered the room and Zoro closed the door behind him.
“I read about your victory”, Sanji began and Zoro wanted to respond but was interrupted, “Which happened over a month ago.”

“The All Blue is hard to find.”
“Not when you have a literal eternal pose pointing to it”, Sanji shook his head, his hand massaging his forehead, “I know your stupid sense of direction is bad but-“, Sanji breathed out, his shoulders sacking down, “I couldn’t even write to congratulate you because no one knew where you were.”

He sighed, “I should’ve gone with you.”
Zoro took a step closer, “You have a restaurant to run. You told me how important the first year is and how you, and I quote, can’t take any breaks.”
“But I’m also your friend and husband, you’re more important than any restaurant.”
“And I love you for thinking that but I couldn’t have allowed that and it was also something I needed to do alone.”

He reached into his pocket, playing with the familiar object. He could recognise it anywhere, knew how it felt like between his fingers and knew exactly how it looked, the color less vibrant than the first time he had his eyes on it, the green having faded with each year. He took it out from his pocket and put it on his palm for Sanji to see.

“Your lucky charm finally completed its purpose. I might’ve never gotten the chance to beat Kuina directly but it helped me with our promise.”
Sanji’s face softened. He looked incredibly young like this, like that boy who had told him about a miracle ocean with a smile so big and the eyes of a dreamer. It was astounding how Sanji could hold all of his emotions on his face for everyone to see. It was contagious, that bright smile of his.

“You still have that little thing?“, Sanji asked him.
“You still have my book don’t you?“, he retorted, knowing exactly where on the bookshelf his present stood.
The blond’s cheeks burned prettily, “It’s a good scientific book.”
“I’m sure you have better scientific books about fish.”
He shrugged, “But I like that one the best.”
“And I like this rock better than all of the rocks out there. It’s even better than all the rubies and sapphires and even diamonds.”
Sanji rolled his eyes, “Don’t let Nami hear you say that.”

Zoro smiled and took a step closer to Sanji, “Do you remember what else you gave me that day?”
“The cookies? Of course I do, I worked hours on those.”
Zoro shook his head, annoyed that he had to work for his first kiss in months, “The other.”
Sanji put his finger on his chin, “I think the memory is still somewhere in my brain.”

Zoro tapped his finger on his cheek, trying to help Sanji’s poor memory.
“You’re a brute, did you know that? Use your words!”
“How could I not know that? You always remind me”, Zoro mumbled before he straightened up and continued enthusiastically, “Oh please curly, my dear husband, could you spare me, a tired fighter who just got home, a kiss on the cheek?”

“And they say I am the dramatic one.”
Sanji finally leaned forward to put his lips on Zoro’s cheek. Before that could happen Zoro turned his head to catch his husband’s lips with his own. Sanji’s lips felt exactly like the last time he kissed him. Warm and soft and familiar.

“We didn’t do that though”, Sanji said after they parted, blushing prettily.
“I wish we did.”
“We were nine”, he rolled his eyes.
“And yet I knew I wanted to spend the rest of my life with you. I mean you gifted me a painted rock, how could I think differently?”
Sanji pouted, making his lips look even more delicious than before, “You’re making fun of me.”
“Me?”, Zoro kissed him again, “Never.”