ZoSan: The Flower

Chapter 7 - Sanji

His mind went completely blank for a solid minute and a half as his brain tried to process what the swordsman had said. He'd been so relieved when the mosshead had laughed at Luffy's name – relieved to hear him laughing at all — that he'd nearly joined, but the cook had never expected what came after. When his heart and mind recovered from the shock, they both went about a million miles per minute trying to catch up. Me? But...

It had to be a joke. The swordsman was yanking his chain, pulling his leg, or whatever other metaphors might be used. One last crack at the cook from the deathbed. But Zoro wasn't really the type to make jokes like that, and his voice had sounded... sincere. There had been the faintest hint of a tremble in it, even, and Sanji was reasonably sure Zoro was not a skilled enough actor to fake that.

A million reasons why it wouldn't be him, could never be him, stampeded through his mind for about the third time that day. Most of the time they fought and competed and insulted each other. It'd been their M.O. for years, to the point that if they ever went more than a few hours without fighting, the rest of the crew got concerned for their well-being. How had that become... love?

Finally (much to Zoro's relief) Sanji finally closed his jaw enough to stutter out a response. "Me? But...how? Why?"

Zoro shrugged, turning his face away. "Wish I knew. You snuck up on me, too. It just... didn't stop at friendship." He suddenly pulled himself away from Sanji's hand to the edge and coughed hard for a minute, another flower falling into the water. When he was done and wiping his mouth again, he reached for the water container and grimaced when it was empty.

Sanji silently handed him the one he'd brought, mind still reeling as Zoro gratefully took it. "Since when?" he asked when the swordsman dropped back into a napping position, still carefully facing away from Sanji. Somehow, Sanji could still hear his response through the roaring in his ears.

"First noticed it at Thriller Bark," Zoro answered, his voice still rough and quiet, but too damn casual.

Thriller Bark? But that was two years ago... Sanji remembered it all too well though. Remembered the way he'd panicked as Zoro had sat the everloving fuck down in front of Kuma, offering his life in exchange for Luffy. Remembered standing on his own shaky legs, offering his own life, his own dream, to save Zoro's. It had been the first moment Sanji had realized that he did consider Zoro a friend, not just someone who happened to be on the same crew. And his ribs still remembered the feel of the hilt of Zoro's katana thumping into them, knocking him unconscious again. He'd always wondered why the swordsman had done that, but chalked it up to the other's competitive hero complex. Zoro surely just hadn't been able to stand even the thought of someone else saving the day, especially not if the someone else were Sanji.

"Fought it for a while," Zoro was continuing, still too casually, like he was talking about the damn weather instead of tearing down everything Sanji thought he'd known about the other man. "A long while. But finally gave in when I realized that it was less than a month before we'd all gather again, and I'd get to see you again. Fight beside you. Fight against you. Eat your cooking. Hell, even hear you go crazy over the girls. And I realized how happy that made me." The swordsman took one of those painful-sounding deep breaths and finally turned back to Sanji, those gray eyes soft and scared.

A/N: Sorry this one is so short, but thank you for reading!