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“Damn it! I didn’t do the princess!”
A green flurry was in the air where the same colored head of hair had been just seconds before. It was struck by a black clothed leg making the mirage vanish from the air. Fortunately the swordsman’s declaration was lost to the other strawhats who were busy recuperating from the battle.
Zoro panted, his bones not fully healed yet from the damage he’d been dealt during his battles with Kaidou and King. Another kick was aimed at him and he used his haki to catch it.
“Stop it right now”, he pulled the other’s extended limb, a move which wouldn’t work under regular circumstances but the blond cook’s body was already sufficiently bruised from his own fighting to make him less steadfast than usual.
Their foreheads nearly rested against each other when Sanji was pushed into a full on upright split by his crew mate.
“You left. You. Left.”, the breath coming from Zoro’s nose was nearly visibly as small clouds of steam: “You left for your stupid bride and now you’re back and I’m the bad guy?”
“You urgh…”, the frustration seemingly made Sanji speechless and he knocked their foreheads even closer stopping just short of their noses touching as well.
“Careful guys, one might think you’re not just fighting”, Nami casually commented, walking past them and reminding them that other people existed.
“Let go of my leg”, the cook urged and Zoro dropped it, noticing the usual fear on the other’s face.
It annoyed him and he grabbed his collar instead, pulling him closer by it: “You… I…”
More of the other’s features were now pulled into the grimace Zoro knew too well and he was ready to let him go but Sanji grabbed his wrist.
“Were you ready to do it?”
“What?”
“Fulfilling your promise.”
“After the battle? Yeah, of course.”
“Even if Luffy would’ve started to fight you?”
“Yeah”, Zoro nodded, not sure where the talk was heading.
“I…”, now that the fear of being discovered had vanished from Sanji’s face he leaned forward, capturing the other’s lips in a soft kiss before pulling back fast.
Zoro couldn’t ignore that the cook hadn’t checked if the hallway they were in was empty again and that left him a little dumbstruck, too much so as to react in any way. The kiss was broken and the blond man wriggled a little against the grip around his collar.
“You know what I want to say”, the swordsman sighed, loosening his fingers and setting the other free again: “And I know you still wouldn’t want to hear it so I’ll keep my mouth shut.”
“Say it”, Sanji captured his eyes, the expression in his face a combination of stubborn pride and pain: “I want to hear it. I… I was so afraid of turning into one of them… I…”
A gust of wind blew the smell of festival food through the hallway and made the shoji doors vibrate.
“Say it”, he urged Zoro once more, leaning so close he nearly touched his lips again.
The swordsman focused on the other’s face, studied the expectant expression that had fought down pride and pain and was now covering Sanji’s face. He breathed in and out, noticed that it made the blond strands fly due to their proximity. Finally he spoke again.
“I love you.”
Sanji nodded and sighed, leaned forward and captured the other’s lips in another soft kiss, breaking it again before Zoro could deepen it in any way. It annoyed the swordsman and the feeling was seemingly visible on his face because the blond’s lip curled upwards in a smile.
“Now you’re mocking me!”
“Last time I nearly broke your neck.”
Both reminisced about the moment after their two year celibate when Zoro hadn’t been able to keep his mouth shut after their squabble on the Sabaody Archipelago.
“You’re still standing here?”, Usopp was now walking past them.
“Shut your mouth”, Zoro growled and the man hurried to leave them alone.
The moment he had noisily closed a door behind him the swordsman leaned in and captured Sanji’s lips a lot more forcefully. Licking over the lower lip he tried to force his tongue inside but the blond still kept his mouth shut. Only when the cook lost his breath and looked significantly debauched Zoro pulled away again. His hands were now resting on Sanji’s hips and he enjoyed how the weight of the other’s arms around his neck felt, even though he wouldn’t return his feelings it was good to know that he wasn’t being pushed away.
“You know I love women. There’s nothing more beautiful than a woman’s body to me! Nothing!”
A sigh left Zoro’s lips along with an annoyed: “Yes, I know…”
He wanted nothing more than the other to finally be finished with his reasoning why they couldn’t be together, to get him into a room and unclothe him.
“And though…”, Sanji bit his lip: “That stupid face of yours is appearing in front of me a lot more than it ought to when… you know.”
The other’s reluctance of speaking about masturbating over Zoro made the swordsman chuckle: “I take that as a compliment, pervy cook.”
“Shut up! I’m trying to explain something. I love women. Alone the concept of women existing in this world makes me enjoy life immensely more”, he took a deep breath and waited until Zoro had finished his eye roll to fix his gaze on the steel grey pupil: “But, I also love you.”
“You…”, this time it was the swordsman who wasn’t sure what to say, his legs suddenly felt a lot weaker and his insides made movements he never felt before, for a second he was afraid he ruptured one of his organs.
Sanji ducked out under Zoro’s grip and pushed him against the wall: “I won’t repeat that.”
He leaned in and kissed him, opening his mouth with his tongue, setting his hands on the other’s hips now like he had done to him before. It took a while for Zoro to respond but then he hungrily leaned forward into the kiss, lifting his hands and burying them in the blond hair.
The wind brought another gust of the festival foods and made some wind chimes ring but the two pirates didn’t break their kiss even when their teeth clashed. Finally Sanji pulled away, breathing in and out deeply. Their combined saliva was shining wetly around his mouth and the wind cooled it quickly. He raised his hand and wiped at Zoro’s face first before he cleaned himself and took a step back.
“I think we should look for a room”, he said, blushing a little.
Zoro nodded, still a more than a bit dumbstruck by the revelation he had got.
“Yes, you should do that”, came the comment from behind the door Usopp had closed before, but it wasn’t their sniper speaking but their tiny doctor.
“Finally”, was the comment from their enigmatic resident archeologist.
“Pay up”, Nami said to someone, probably Usopp, since he was the one letting out an enormous sigh.
The sound of Luffy laughter could be heard as could Brook’s. Franky was the one finally opening the door, giving them an enthusiastic thumbs up which made it possible for them to see Jinbe’s fatherly nod.
Before Sanji could get back out of his sudden petrification Zoro grabbed the back of his jacket and dragged him away from their crew, making sure he didn’t get the time to think too much about what had just happened.