What's Not To Love

Chapter 20

Sanji heaved a sigh as he turned from the kitchen window. The look of hurt that showed on Zoro's face was probably unnoticed by everyone but not the detail-oriented cook. The worst part was that Sanji knew that the facial expression had something to do with him. Everything that was causing an emotional ripple in the crew right now seemed to start with Zoro and him, which was by far the most unsettling thing that they could have experienced.

Sanji tried to drown out his thoughts by attempting a new recipe. Lunch would be ready soon but he felt the need to present something new to the team, sort of like a way to apologize to them for the trouble thus far. He wanted something that would be smooth going down and that the babies could even eat without Zoro getting mad at him. The thought of the kids made him smile. Eyes like Zoro, a laugh like heaven and a smile like nothing he had ever seen before. They were perfect, just like the swordsman.

"You look happy."

Sanji's head shot up in surprise. He hadn't even heard the door open nor did he hear Robin walk in. "H-how are you Robin?" Sanji said, as he cleared his throat and looked back at the food he was preparing.

"I'm fine." Robin said as she took a seat. She signaled Sanji to stop when he made a move to get her a drink. "I'm not thirsty at the moment cook-san. I just thought I'd come keep you company."

"That's rare." Sanji said as he moved back towards the food. Robin was usually with Nami or accompanying Zoro these days.

Robin watched Sanji for a moment. She was trying to figure out the best way to approach the topic at hand. Her and Nami had spoken with Zoro the night before and he was having difficulty with the new situation. He seemed to not want to be separated from the kids when it came time to sleep and he also wanted to be able to keep a close eye on them. Needless to say, Nami and Robin disagreed with his idea. Having Sanji and Zoro work out a schedule with the babies would help not just themselves and the babies but the crew as well.

"Cook-Sa.....Sanji." Robin spoke with authority in her voice. "You and Zoro need to talk."

Sanji let out a long sigh. "Yeah. I know."

"You do? Then that's good." Robin stared at the wall. "He's going to end up hurting himself with the way things are going now and I'm sure you must miss the kids."

Sanji stood back to look at his masterpiece. The food looked great and the texture seemed smooth enough. He took a rag and wiped his hands. He placed it on the counter and walked over to the table, choosing to sit in front of Robin.

"I do miss the kids." Sanji whispered with a foreign softness in his voice. He placed his hands on the table and stared at them, avoiding Robin's eyes. His leg was jittery from a want of smoke but he refrained from it. He was trying to quit, a start to changing himself for his 'family'. He smiled at the thought of that. Looking up at Robin, he frowned. "But he won't want to talk to me. Even if he told you he would, it was just for show."

Robin stared at the figure in front of her, thinking for a moment."Well, you could just pull him to the side and talk right now. He won't turn you down in front of the crew since he said he won't neglect any of us anymore." Robin stood up and walked towards the door. "And you are part of the crew Cook-san."

Sanji watched Robin leave with a feeling of excitement running through him. He took a moment to collect his thoughts before getting up and preparing drinks. He moved to leave the room, leaving behind two cups. When he got outside, he stopped and admired the view of the sun setting in the distance. He looked around and saw that most of the crew was silently watching it. He smiled and proceeded to descend the stairs from the kitchen. He silently made his way to each crew member, handing them their drinks and sharing a brief conversation at times.

When he got to Luffy, he smiled and bent down to his captain and the twins. "Here ya go Captain."

Luffy took the drink and smiled wide at Sanji. "Thanks Sanji." was the response he gave. He downed the drink in one go and watched as Sanji gave both of the babies a small taste. He continued to look at Sanji with them for a moment before speaking uncharacteristically low.

"You got this Sanji."

Sanji snapped his head towards Luffy. His words held a double meaning, he was sure of it. But how could Luffy know what was about to happen, Sanji thought to himself. He chanced a smile and stood back up. Looking back he saw Robin wave to him and Nami shoot him a smile before messing with the log post.

Taking a breath, Sanji walked over to Zoro who was wiping sweat off of himself. "Hey."

Zoro turned and looked at the cook. He didn't say a word to him. All he did was stare.

Sanji cleared his throat. "So, uh, I made drinks but I was hoping that we could drink them. Together. In the kitchen?." Sanji cursed himself for sounding so unsure of himself.

"Why didn't you just bring them out here?" Zoro asked as he turned towards the cook .

"Well," Sanji began, trying not to look at Zoro's body drenched in sweat. " I was hoping that we could talk."

Sanji watched Zoro as he thought. He saw his eyes wonder and followed his line of sight. He had his eyes trained on Kai and Dai. Keeping his own eyes trained on them he spoke."Nami and Robin are out here to keep an eye on them with Luffy." Turning back towards Zoro, they stared at each other. "I figured since you trusted them so much that it wouldn't be problem."

Zoro noted the jealousy evident in Sanji's voice and rolled his eyes. "Fine."

Sanji smiled at the response and watched as Zoro lead the way to the kitchen. On the way, Zoro waved at the girls and asked them to keep an eye on the kids, which they happily agreed to do. Sanji followed behind and he noted that the crew was watching them intensley. When they saw the cook look back at them, they looked away.

After another moment, Sanji and Zoro entered the gallery. Zoro sat at his usual seat at the table and took a drink from the center of it. Sanji was about to sit down but made a detour to the fridge. He felt eyes boring into his back and tried to stay relaxed. He grabbed a bowl of chopped Mikan's from one of the shelves before grabbing the teriyaki sauce. He took both back to the table and placed them closer to Zoro. He didn't dare look at the swordsman face until he was seated. When he did look up, Zoro was staring at the sauce questioningly.

"I wasn't sure if you would want to try that combination again. " Sanji said as he stared at the bottle as well. Looking back at Zoro, he said "Just thought I'd be prepared."

Zoro stared at Sanji for another moment before deciding to used the sauce. He poured it on a small amount of Mikan's before tasting one. It didn't taste that bad to him even though he was nowhere near pregnant. He looked back up and noticed Sanji was staring at him with a light blush on his face. Ignoring the look, Zoro decided to get straight to the matter at hand.

"So, what was it that you wanted to talk about?"