ZoSan: The Flower

Chapter 58 - Sanji

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Another day, another island. At least this one has a nice market. I just wish it was a little less... Pink. Sanji was getting too many Momoiro Island vibes and it was really making him uncomfortable. It was a shame, in a way. He'd kind of liked pink, once. Never as his favorite color, but it had been one he'd enjoyed. Now it made him shudder and sometimes gag when it was present in too-large quantities, like this place. It was different enough that it was clearly not Momoiro island, and there were girls who, as far as he could tell, were actually born female, but it was like the whole island existed in shades of pink and red. Even the water in the fountain in the center of town was lit up pink.

Zoro grabbed his hand. "You okay? You're sweating bullets."

"It's... a lot. Lot of pink," he mumbled, glad to look up at his boyfriend's tan skin and delightfully green hair. Green green green, beautiful green. Such a pleasant relief from pink.

"Need to go back to the Sunny? I can get the food we need. I pretty well know what you look for by now."

That was probably true. In the two weeks since they'd become official, Zoro had joined him in the kitchen pretty frequently, sometimes just watching, but sometimes helping him cook. He knew what spices and ingredients Sanji used most, which ones were always kept in stock, and what everyone's favorite dishes were.

But Sanji shook his head, his damn pride not letting him run from this discomfort. "I can stay. Just, don't... wander off?"

"We've already established that I'm hard to get rid of, curly-que." Those fingers tightened reassuringly around Sanji's own.

Sanji lit a cigarette one-handed and took a deep breath of the smoke, focusing on Zoro as he forced a half-smile."Yeah, but you have a remarkable talent for getting lost."

"Things just move around. Not my fault." The response was instinctual and they both knew it. "Hang on. I see something that may help."

Zoro dragged Sanji to a small accessories stand that had a tray of sunglasses. The mosshead found a pair of glasses tinted a bright blue-green, and quickly tossed the vendor a few coins for them, before placing them gently on the cook's nose. "How's that? Better?"

Sanji looked around, seeing blues, purples, and browns instead of pinks, and threw his arms around the swordsman's neck and placed a kiss on his cheek. "Much. That was clever, Marimo. Thank you."

Zoro nodded at the vendor as Sanji led him away, ready to continue on his mission. Suddenly a small figure with hair that must've been a light pink, though Sanji's new glasses made it look purple, darted between them, forcefully separating their joined hands. Sanji watched as the girl darted between and around a few more people, then seemed to disappear into the crowded market.

A small crew, maybe a local police force, charged through next, apparently looking for the girl. Sanji fought the urge to laugh or hide himself or anything else that might draw undue attention and turned to his boyfriend to make sure he was doing the same.

What he saw surprised him so much he couldn't help but gasp, which made the person next to him turn to him with concern.

"What is it, San...ji?" A familiar gray eye widened in an almost-unfamiliar face. The scar was still over that left eye, but it looked more faded, and there were wrinkles and laugh lines around the eyes and chin. The tanned skin had grown leathery, with a few sunspots dotting it. There was still some green in the silvering hair that spiked up softly. The not-quite-stranger looked at Sanji with the same confused, questioning gaze that Sanji felt on his own face.