Epiphany

Chapter One

He rested his arms on the railing outside and looked out at the vast sea around him. The breeze felt nice as the sun beat down on his skin. There were muffled sounds coming from behind him. As he looked back, the kitchen door swung open. Sanji walked out into the yard, carrying a drink in his hand. The blonde looked around before spotting Zoro. He rolled his eyes as the cook approached him. Sanji held out the glass in front of him, waiting for Zoro to take it. After a few seconds, Zoro took the drink from his hands reluctantly.

"Everyone's inside. Why are you out here?"

Zoro sighed, "I don't know. It's none of your business anyway, shitty cook."

Sanji scoffed as he leaned against the railing. "Yeah, whatever. I was just asking." There was a long silence before Zoro whispered something. Sanji turned towards him and tilted his head to the side. "What was that?"

"...Thanks.. You know, for the drink.." Zoro mumbled while he continued to look off into the distance. Sanji stared at him in disbelief. "What did you just say??"

Zoro glanced at Sanji for a moment before dropping his head in his hands. "Nothing. Forget it." Just as Sanji was about to respond, the kitchen door opened. They both turned around to see who it was. Nami waved at them. "Sanji-kun, can we get more drinks in here?" The chef 's lit up. "Right away, Nami-saaan!"

Zoro sighed as he watched Sanji run towards Nami. His eyes lingered on the kitchen door for a moment before he returned his focus on the cold drink in his hand. The corner of his mouth moved slightly upwards. 'Stupid cook.'

.

It was evening now; all the Strawhats were sitting around the kitchen table, talking while waiting for Sanji to finish preparing their dinner. Zoro was the only one who kept to himself. He didn't realize it, but he was staring at the blonde in the kitchen. This was the first time he actually watched Sanji cook. This was also the first time Zoro noticed how happy Sanji looked while doing it. As Sanji's eyes were locked on the simmering food in front of him, Zoro's eyes were locked on the cook's radiant smile.

Once Sanji was finished, he brought the trays of food to the table. Somehow, his smile got wider as he bowed, "Enjoy!" Everyone said their thanks and dug in. After a few minutes, Sanji nudged Zoro's shoulder. Zoro glared at him and groaned, "What do you want?" Sanji nodded his head towards the plate in front of Zoro. "Why aren't you eating? You better not waste any of it." Zoro knew why Sanji cared so much about not wasting food, but he was still annoyed by him. "I'll eat however much I want, shitty cook." Sanji rolled his eyes before he continued to talk with the others.

Everyone was finished eating besides Zoro, so it was just him left in the kitchen, as well as Sanji, who was busy doing the dishes. Zoro looked down at his plate. He was definitely full, but there was still a small portion of food there. He took his spoon and shoveled what was left into his mouth. Zoro got up and walked over to the sink. He held out his plate for Sanji to take. "Here."

Sanji stopped what he was doing and looked over at Zoro with an annoyed expression. "What?" Then, he noticed the plate in his hands. The annoyed look on his face washed away as he saw Zoro's empty plate. Sanji slowly looked up at Zoro and nodded. "Thanks." The swordsman felt a small wave of relief as he saw the cook ever so slightly smile.

As Zoro walked out of the kitchen and onto the deck, he froze. Why did he just do that? Did he just try to make that stupid cook happy? He shook that thought away and continued to walk towards the men's quarters.

He stared at the darkened ceiling above him, listening to the light snoring of the other members around him. Normally he would fall asleep almost immediately, but tonight he couldn't even bring himself to close his eyes. The image of that cook's smile was stuck in his mind, refusing to leave.