How Romantic

One Shot

"How Romantic."

As usual, the Sunny Go was in a happy and noisy mood. On board, they were celebrating their departure from the mysterious island of toxic gases called "Punk Hazard". The intense heat, the piercing cold, the pain, the fatigue, the fear, everything seemed already far away from them when they had only been sailing through the seas of the Shin Sekai for a few hours. Everyone had already returned to their usual activities on the boat. Nami, Robin, Chopper and Momonosuke had gone for a well-deserved bath to the great displeasure of Kin'emon, Brook and Sanji who set out to take a peek at it. To make up for this, after receiving a good punch from Nami, Sanji had regained possession of his kitchen to prepare a small snack based on the raw fish caught by Ussop and Luffy 5 minutes earlier. As for Franky, he was in charge of the Sunny's rudder not far from Law, who had come to find some calm at the front of the boat while supervising Cesar from a distance.

Only Zoro had been acting strangely since they left. Something bothered him, kept him thinking about it and he didn't like it. He had isolated himself at the back of the boat and was walking from one end of the platform to the other while staring at the ground with a dark gaze. These uncomfortable thoughts had been bothering him for quite some time, however, at Punk Hazard, with the arrival of events he had no time to realize it and think about it.

Zoro stopped and leaned against the guardrail. He stared at the horizon, his hands pressed against the wood.

"Rah, damn it! " Blurted Zoro out into a swearword that came out stronger than expected.

He passed his anger through his physical strength, to such an extent that he realized that the guardrail had begun to crack and dropped it precipitously, taking a step back. Zoro took a deep breath and then fell to the ground, his back resting on the wood and his eyes closed.

What the hell was happening to him? It definitely didn't look like him to lose his temper so easily. Zoro went over the perturbing events one by one in his mind. He saw the snow as far as the eye could see, the wind blowing in his face as his small group advanced at full speed through the mountains on the back of a centaur-crocodile. When suddenly Luffy started to scream.

"They're here! Guys! Guys! »

Zoro emerged from his moment of distraction to turn and see a group of children of all sizes and some of their companions.

"It's Luffy and the others! Zoro! Ussop! Brook! Robin! »

Zoro froze in place. Was it that shitty-cook that was shouting at each other and giggling all over the place? Did he hear correctly..." Zoro"?

"I'm so glad to see you all ! "Sanji continued.

It was at that very moment that Zoro felt something strange in his chest, a kind of warmth despite the blizzard around him.

"Why is this stupid cook wiggling around in all directions" began to answer Zoro to get his mind back on his feet. "Has he gone mad because of the cold? »

As he thought about this scene, he didn't know if he should blame Chopper for having made such a "joke" on him, even though the poor little reindeer had nothing to do with it. Zoro lie down on the wood and let the fresh wind pass through his hair. He had been aware of this perverted cook for two years now. Always fighting and competing. The swordsman acted in this way to put a wall between the two of them. Indeed, he had noticed that he had quite special feelings for his nakama. He had never known how to define them and it was no problem for him, he didn't need to put a word. At least like that, he was sure he wouldn't find anything that would bother him. He had always been satisfied with "a friendship full of rivalry and respect". He had not paid attention to his feeling of lack when Sanji did not bother to fight with him, too busy preparing a more elaborate meal than usual. He had suppressed this heavy feeling in his stomach when he responded to the slightest caprice of the boat's women or when he was flirting with strangers on the various islands he met. Or he had ignored this painful pinch in his heart when the cook wanted to sacrifice himself in his place against Kuma.