What's Not To Love

Chapter 34

Zoro fell back on the bed with his arms resting behind him. The image of Sanji staring him down appeared in his mind and he let out a sigh in response. Why the hell did I even say that?

A frown engulfed his face as he let himself lay properly on the bed. Is it...hormones? Turning to the side, he shook his head at his own thoughts. No way, right. But, what else could explain this....stupidity? Zoro closed his eyes tight. Why the hell am I even making a big deal out of nothing when we were doing just fine?

The sound of wood scraping against the floorboards could be heard throughout the gallery. Nami and Robin both sat at the table with a twin of one side of them as they spoke softly and occasionally glanced at Sanji. Sanji no longer wore his suit jacket and had unbuttoned the top of his shirt. He had rolled up his sleeves to wash some of the vegetables in the sink but the girls could see his tapping his foot once in a while. They looked at each other each time he did it. Must be craving a cigarette.

"How're the twins?" The cook threw over his shoulder. He didn't look up from the sink.

"They're fine." Robin said. She reached into Dai's seat. "They're napping at the moment."

Nami let out a slight chuckle. "They nap most of the day. It's definitely a Roronoa trait."

Sanji didn't say anything as the girls chuckled together. He grabbed a pot and threw some of the vegetables in it with water. He set it on the stove to boil before grabbing some meat he had prepared previously. He put it in another pot with water and let it boil as well. While he waited, he went to join the girls at the table.

Nami wasted no time to get to the problem. As soon as Sanji's butt took over the seat, she leaned forward on her arms and opened her eyes wide. In a small voice she asked, "So, what happened down there? I thought you two were doing good."

Robin stared at Sanji as he stayed silent.

"What;s bothering you Cook-san?"

He kept his eyes on the table for a long while before throwing his head back with a sigh.

"It's hard to talk to you guys nowadays." He said. He kept his eyes on the ceiling and ignored the noise of displeasure that Nami gave at his response. "I can't tell you exactly what I want because you're closer to Zoro then I am." He paused for a moment. " Everyone on this ship is family and you're all trying to help us with whatever this is supposed to be between us," he waved his hand in the air. "And I've gotta say that I'm grateful." Sanji looked at the girls. " But its...I don't know...I think that he really must hate me."

"What?" Nami sat back in her chair. "You guys were just big smiles and all lovey dovey not too long ago. How can he hate you?" She paused and took a quick glance at Robin before staring Sanji in the eyes. "And about the other stuff...its fine. We've heard that enough from Zoro."

Robin nodded her head. "Why don't you just tell us what happen? As you've said, we're a little closer to Zoro than you. He's really bad at expressing himself but we might be able to help."

Sanji sat forward in his chair and covered his face with his hands. He looked up a few minutes later and stared hard at Nami and Robin. "Okay. I'll tell you. Just....dont interrupt until I'm fully done."

Once he saw both girls nod their heads, he told them everything. From the moment Zoro dragged him downstairs, up until the moment he walked away not too long ago. He didn't miss a single detail as he ran it all by the girls who did a good job at keeping neutral facial expressions.

"Wow" Nami sat back in her chair and looked at the ceiling in awe. "He is so in love."

"Definieteely in love." Robin said as she nodded her head.

Nami sat forward real quick and leaned close to Robins side of the table. "But, he's a little dumb too right? I mean, he probably doesn't even know that he wants this as much as he does." She let her hand loosely fall in the direction of Sanji.

Robin mimicked Nami's posture. "Right. He's probably sulking in bed. He always naps when things go wrong."

"But he does it when things are fine too."

"He's just confused."

"Very Confused."

Sanji stared at the two girls in confusion as they 'discussed' Zoro's actions. He wasn't sure if he even understood what they were trying to get at.

"Wait."

Both girls looked at Sanji.

"So,' He sat forward. "What you're trying to get at is he's confused but he likes me?"

"Loves you." Nami corrected.

"And so that justifies ...everything?" Sanji asked. He wouldn't show it to the girls but he was getting a little annoyed.

"Its like this Sanji," Robin started, gaining the other two adults attention. "You know how girls get, like, mean and emotional once in a while." Sanji nodded. "His confusion is his version of that."

"Huh?" Sanji was even more confused then he was at the start of the conversation.

"You have to remember," Nami began. "That the spray that gave you guys kids, also made his insides to that of a womens for a while. Chopper wasn't even able to test it before it was used. It probably gave him some side effects too."

Sanji stared at Nami for a while before nodding his head slowly.

"Remember - he even tried to make you jealous by going on a date with that guy. It's a girl thing."

"Ah," Sanji sat back in his chair while nodding his head. "So, Zoro is confused because the potion gave him the unstable emotions of a female."

"Hey," Nami let some anger flow into her voice. "Remember that we're girls too."

"Right, sorry." Sanji nodded quickly. "But, what am I supposed to do about it? Get him checked by Chopper?"

"That would be the best choice." Robin relaxed into her chair some more. "It's better to find out whats wrong while it's in the early stages. We have to remember that this is all just an observation."

"And its not like he'd say anything if he was feeling different. That's why we have to get him to go. You know how he is." Nami added.

All three of the members nodded silently, each hoping that nothing else was wrong with Zoro.