ZoSan: The Flower

Chapter 47 - Zoro

Sanji might call him a coward for the way he tried to escape. He wasn't running, not physically, but it felt like he was. His heart hurt, and he couldn't stop the tears that flowed from his eyes. All he knew was he couldn't keep looking at Sanji's beautiful face, at the pain and anger there. Pain and anger he'd caused. Enough pain and anger so Sanji wanted to end their relationship, even though he'd used the word boyfriend not even a half-hour earlier and had promised that he was close.

Zoro had fucked up, and gotten his heart fucked up in return. He deserved the pain. And he needed somewhere to think, to dwell on it. Somewhere to process it out. The crow's nest wouldn't do - if Sanji did happen to come looking for him, it'd be the first place he'd look. So where would be the last?

The soldier docking system. Sanji never went down there unless he was sent on a mission needing one of their extra vehicles. Zoro's feet found their way there slowly. He hoped he didn't pass anyone on his way, but he could barely see past the tears he couldn't stop. Once down in the lowest level of the ship, he found his way into the dock station for the mini-Merry, and saw in the corner the small, cheap boat that Sanji had found him on once. Where he'd asked Sanji to kiss him. Where the whole 'thing', as Sanji had phrased it, had begun.

He flopped into it heavily, and curled up, feeling too young and too old all at the same time. Maybe it was a mistake to let Sanji bring me back. He stayed like that for a while, crying silently until the tears were mostly gone and he was just... empty. Unlike the docking system now.

"Zoro-bro?" It was Franky, of course, but Zoro didn't particularly want to talk to him. Or anyone, really.

"Am I in the way of your work?" He choked out, not moving.

Franky shook his head. "No, I can work around you. Just came down to do some routine maintenance. But you're... upset. Something happen with Sanji-bro?"

Zoro gave a mirthless chuckle. "Yeah. I fucked it up." He didn't know why he sat up and faced the cyborg, but he did. "You ever been in love, Franky?"

Franky looked shocked at the question — or maybe just who was asking such a question. But after a few seconds, he blushed. "Yeah. You aren't the only one pursuing a crewmate."

"Robin?"

"Yeah."

"Too bad. I was gonna warn you against it. This love shit hurts."

Franky turned his attention to the mini-Merry, checking it for damage, loose fixtures, and things like that as he answered. "Only when it goes wrong. When it goes right, it's beautiful. But you knew that."

"I can't seem to get it to go right for very long.... I keep messing everything up." Zoro sighed and buried his face in his hands. "What else can I do to get him to fall for me? I feel like I've tried everything."

"Maybe you're pushing too hard, y'know?"

"What do you mean?"

Franky didn't look at the swordsman while he answered. "Sanji-bro's a man, too. He might need to be put in a position to pursue, rather than be pursued for a while."

"I haven't been stopping him, though. I've been going at his pace, letting him lead each ... development."

"But the two of you have barely left each other's sides since he brought you back. Maybe he's just overwhelmed and needs some space."

"Well, I guess he's getting it. He broke it off. We'll be going back to just being crewmates. Nothing more." The words still cut deep, even from his own mouth.

Franky examined the part he'd pried out. "Hmm. Usopp'll be happy about that. He bet that you would break up one or more times before you finally got officially together. But you should know, there's not a single bet in the pool against the two of you ending up together in the long run."

Zoro rolled his eyes, but the idea that his crewmates didn't believe his love for Sanji was a lost cause gave him a little courage. "Nami and her betting pools. What was your bet on us?"

Franky finally looked at him and grinned. "Bets, plural. Official within a month, married within 18 months."

"Married? You're all betting even so far as that?" As if marriage would happen, especially now. But his traitorous mind turned it into a daydream — Sanji in a white and gold suit, maybe wearing some bit of blue that would bring out his eyes, looking at Zoro with love in his eyes and a ring, Zoro's ring, on his hand. Sanji, his, forever. All their friends around them. Everyone happy, Zoro and Sanji most of all. It was beautiful.

It hurt like hell.

"It's Nami. Of course she started bets on that, too."

"... you really think it's not... ruined?"

Franky stepped into the next space over, raising his voice just enough to still be heard. "I don't know what you argued about, but no, I can't imagine it's unfixable. Remember, I was the last one to see him before he got to you after you left. I'm no expert, but I think he may have been close to developing feelings for you even then, just very deeply in denial. He was so anxious. Desperate, like it was his own life on the line. And when you were in for surgery, he had that same anxiety, only it might have even been worse. He was driving everyone on board nuts. He brought Nami and Robin snacks three times within the first hour!"

Franky paused for a second, but Zoro could still hear him pounding on something metal with a mallet. "But like I said, he was so deeply in denial. Your near-death dragged him painfully out of that denial, but that's probably scary for him, too y'know? We allow ourselves to be in denial for a reason, usually. He might just need an element of control. Being the pursuer might help."

"Then how do I apologize and give him space?" Zoro had never really thought of Franky as wise, but maybe he'd been hiding it well. Or maybe Robin's obscure wisdom was rubbing off on him.

"Give him space until he approaches you, but think about what you want to say when he does. I suspect you hotheads are both equally at fault, so you can apologize to each other. Or do it in a note or something."

"A note... I could do that. Probably. As long as he's not wanting poetry."

Franky laughed. "If you wanna learn poetry, Robin'd be more than happy to help. She's been on a kick herself and trying to get me to learn!"

Trying to imagine the giant cyborg writing or reciting poetry almost made Zoro smile, too."Thanks, Franky... Mind if I nap down here? Not feeling like going topside just yet."

"Knock yourself out, as long as you don't mind if I make noise for a while."