The setting sun had lulled the hungry swordsman nearly into sleep when a familiar spike of haki rumbled through the mosshead's semi-conscious mind. Its sender was still a ways off, but that didn't mean Zoro didn't know who it was. Sanji. He pulled a calloused hand over his face with a groan.
Luffy had broken his promise to not let anyone come after him. That could be very good or very, very bad. And unfortunately the haki burst was far enough off so Zoro couldn't determine the mood behind it.
It could be that Chopper had finally, miraculously, found a cure to this stupid flower in his chest, and the stupid cook was merely the one sent to retrieve him, since he had more control over the haki than Luffy did in non-battle situations.
Or Sanji's approaching presence could mean that someone, maybe even Sanji himself, had pieced it all together and the blond was coming in anger and disgust to speed up his impending death.
If it was the first, Zoro would be more than happy to signal his location. He was willing to die, but that didn't mean he wanted to. But as much as he wanted to see the blond, to fight him one more time just for the sake of being that close to him, Zoro didn't want anger and disgust to be the last look he saw on the curly-brow. He wanted to savor the normal, cheerful sendoff he'd gotten at the last island, damn it. And he didn't have either his swords or much energy left, so it would be a pathetic fight, if it came to that.
The hungry, sun-drenched, somewhat delirious part of his mind offered a third option, something sweet and hopeful and... utterly fantastic. The swordsman pushed the irrational thoughts of returned love and sweet kisses from his mind even as he felt another cough building in his chest. He hacked up another flower and a bud before it would let him breathe a little easier again. He shifted to sit up again, keeping carefully balanced while staying close to the railing. He splashed the last of his stored water into his mouth to clean it out.
With a sigh, he released an answering burst of haki. At worst, he might still go out fighting and not alone, right?
A/N: Thank you to everyone who's read so far! I hope you're enjoying it, and I'm sorry this chapter is so dang short.
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ZoSan: The Flower
FanfictionZoro x Sanji, hanahaki theme. When Zoro becomes infected by a flower that will kill him, he decides to leave the Thousand Sunny. How will the cook react to his absence? Switches POV between Sanji and Zoro. I'm officially bumping the rating to matur...
