ZoSan: The Flower

Chapter 64 - Sanji

Wedding planning was hard, even when trying to keep it simple.

Only a few formal invitations had gone out, some of them very broadly addressed, such as the one to 'Capt. Trafalgar Law and the Heart Pirates'. At Zoro's request, one even went to Dracule Mihawk and Perona, though he didn't sound confident that they'd bother coming. But most of the invitations were informal, word-of-mouth things, since most of the people they really wanted to invite were already on their ship. The Sunny would be the venue. Flowers had been ordered; beautiful combinations of yellow daffodils and white tulips and roses. Robin had taken Sanji into town for a new suit, and then Nami had taken Zoro. The rings were custom made and carefully stored. The officiant, one Monkey D. Luffy, had been carefully trained in his part by a combination of Robin and Usopp. The reception would just be a normal Strawhat banquet, with the singular addition of plenty of wedding cake.

Everything should be ready for the ceremony the following day.

Not that that had stopped Sanji from going over his list repeatedly and obsessively.

"Love. Put it down. It's all taken care of. We can rest for tonight," Zoro coaxed, one hand covering up the page of the notebook Sanji was staring at while the other reached for the blond's waist.

"I feel like I'm forgetting something, though!" Sanji tried to move the notebook from under Zoro's hand, trying to see it again.

"Sanji. Look at me," Zoro ordered softly. Sanji did, slowly. "We have the essentials. We have two people in love, rings, an officiant and our family to witness. Anything else is extra. This time tomorrow, you'll officially be Roronoa Sanji, my husband. And a few hours after, I'll be stripping whatever new suit you and Robin bought right off of you. Maybe using just my teeth, if you're lucky. What else do we need, really?"

"Don't try to distract me by turning me on right now, Zoro. I need to make sure everything's in order. What if something gets forgotten, lost in the shuffle?"

A knock sounded at the door to the crow's nest, then a grinning Usopp opened the door without waiting for a response. "The first three of your guests just docked next to us and are boarding. You should come on down and greet them."

Curiosity overrode Sanji's anxiety, at least for the moment, especially as Zoro glanced out the window to the deck below. Then he grinned smugly, knowingly, and pulled the notebook out of Sanji's hand and set it down. "Come on, love."

"What do you know, Zoro? That smile concerns me. What'd you do?" Sanji tried to look out the window, too, but whoever had arrived was out of sight now.

"Something that might very well make my beautiful husband-to-be cry from happiness," Zoro grabbed Sanji's hand, dragging him to the door. "You'll like it, I promise."

Sanji followed behind him as they made their way down to the deck. Almost as soon as they were down, a pink-haired girl climbed over the edge, followed by an older dark-haired man with piercing gold eyes. Perona and Mihawk. Sanji smiled, about to express his happiness for Zoro, when Mihawk reached a hand back over the railing, and another head appeared.

"These damn ropes," a familiar growly voice complained as a hand gripped Mihawk's. A dramatic, graying blond mustache came into view, followed by a portly figure in a chef's jacket, and finally a mismatched set of legs, one human and one wooden, stepped over the railing.

Tears sprang to Sanji's eyes, and he glanced to his grinning fiance, who nodded in the direction of the older man as if to confirm that Sanji wasn't imagining. And that was all Sanji needed before he practically tackled the man who had just boarded. "Old man Zeff!"

"Oi, easy, little eggplant!" But the older chef was still able to withstand the force of the hug, and caught him easily. "Missed you, too, damn brat. A little birdy told me you're getting married tomorrow, to a man, no less, and might want me here for it." One of Perona's ghosts placed Zeff's usual tall hat on his balding head.