New Life

Title: New Life
Author: Genuinelie(s)
Rating: PG-13
Disclaimer: Not mine

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Chapter Three
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All Blue.

Sanji hissed as he sliced his thumb. It was never good to be distracted while chopping herbs, especially while chopping as fast as he was. Their doctor had bandaged the arm Zoro had cut open, but at the rate he was going it wouldn't even matter. This was the fifth wound he'd given himself in less than an hour.

He set down his knife and gave his wrists a rest, removing his cigarette so he could suck on his thumb. He looked up and out through the window to where Zoro was training. There was a tight pain in his gut every time he saw the swordsman there. He had been gone for so long, and then he was dead, and having his nakama alive and in the spot where he always used to be felt like he had fallen asleep on watch and had just forgotten to wake up.

And when he did, it would just be him and Luffy again, and a crew who, after two years, were barely more than filled positions.

He studied Zoro as his muscles strained and his shirt - now black - dampened with exertion. He hadn't thought about what had happened that afternoon, largely on purpose, but that didn't stop him from openly observing his crewmate. He felt that, at least, was his right.

His nakama- the very fact he could call Zoro nakama again brought a feeling Sanji thought it best to ignore -had changed.

It was almost imperceptible. Part of it was shown through Zoro deigning to use his name, although in the past few days he'd begun falling back on old favorites, many of which involved the word shitty. It was kind of a relief for them both, Sanji thought, that they still annoyed each other as much as they used to. But the other change was in that although the expletives were there, the edge was gone. The formerly angry words had a new tinge to them that bordered on affection. Somehow, finally having proved himself had taken a large part of the characteristic tension away from the swordsman.

He didn't always show it, but at times when Zoro was by himself Sanji caught him actually looking content. There was a calmness to him that had never been there before, a sort of aura that told them he was at peace with the world.

Sanji wondered if finding All Blue would do the same for him.

He didn't think it would.

The difference was that Zoro had no more promises to keep. At the young, young age of 24, he had completed his life's mission. He was the best in the world, and whatever obligations he carried now, he owed them only to himself.

Sanji, however, now had one more debt added to his list. Assuming Zoro hadn't hired a crackpot for his navigator, and they really had found All Blue, the swordsman had brought Sanji's dream to him.

It was a debt he wasn't sure he could repay.

Suddenly, Zoro looked up. Sanji froze as he caught his eyes. Forcing himself to act normal, as if he hadn't been staring at him for five minutes straight, he removed the thumb from his mouth and brought a shaky cigarette to his lips.

Zoro smiled.

Yes, Zoro was back with them. Zoro was training, like Zoros did.

But things had changed. Zoro had changed.

He supposed he had, too.

He tore his gaze away and went back to his cooking.

Frustration born of uncertainty and nostalgia and a feeling he didn't want to name as the thought that he missed the swordsman's scowl crossed his mind suddenly translated into an urge to leave the galley and go kick his undead nakama across the deck, right into his smiling face.

And that feeling, he could recognize.

Sanji smirked around his cigarette, and went back to chopping herbs.

*****

Dinner was slightly tense.

The crew had gotten over the bravery they had shown earlier while placing bets and were meekly eating their dinner under a fitting cloud of embarassment. Luffy seemed oblivious, the Pirate King babbling to Zoro about all the adventures they'd had in his absence around two chipmunk-cheeks full of food.

Sanji took his dinner standing up, by the sink. It seemed fitting. He had been Luffy's first mate as well as his cook for the past two years, but now that his true first mate had returned it felt more natural for him to move aside.

For his part, Zoro was silent during the meal, but he looked enraptured with Luffy as he spoke.

Finally Luffy swallowed and took a giant swig of his drink. Looking content, he leaned back in his chair and patted his belly.

"So what did you do, Zoro?" He asked, tipping his hat back and looking at him with wide eyes. "I bet you had some great adventures!"

The crew, as one, stopped eating, forks hanging in midair.

There had been stories. At every one of the villages they'd stopped at, word of a lone swordsman with a terrific beast as a companion was a constant note under the drone of conversation in the pubs. They'd heard stories of his conquests, of how he'd stop in a town and challenge all of those willing until there was no one left to fight. Some would set up festivals if they heard of his coming; others would close their ports. His bounty was so large that all the bounty hunters not looking for the Pirate King and his crew would sell their souls to catch him.

It was no wonder that their crew, for the most part young and green but for the experience garnered on the Going Merry, were in awe.

Zoro shrugged a shoulder. "I sailed down the Grand Line with Chopper until we found a decent navigator and caught some news of Mihawk." He laughed. "He actually sent me an invitation."

The crew gasped. Luffy grinned. "Neat!"

"I guess he was watching my progress." Zoro frowned suddenly. "It was almost as if he wanted to be beaten."

Sanji exhaled a stream of smoke. "It has to be pretty boring with no one to fight," he commented.

Zoro raised an eyebrow at this. Sanji met his eyes then looked out the window.

"At any rate, I found him only a couple months ago. We fought, I won, Chopper stayed to patch us up and then took off." Zoro took a swig of his drink. "I was going to leave myself right before you found me."

"Soo...Mihawk was still there?" Luffy asked.

Zoro nodded. "I promised to come back once a year for another round." He looked thoughtful. "He could still beat me, so I have to keep training."

"So, what did you do this past month with him? Have tea and cookies?" Sanji drawled. He couldn't say why, but Zoro just hanging out with Mihawk touched a nerve.

Zoro scowled. "Trained. He taught me some of his moves."

"For only a month?"

Zoro shrugged. "Can't teach me all of his moves. We're still opponents."

Luffy suddenly let out a loud, raucous laugh. Half the crew at the table jumped. "He's a smart guy!" He exclaimed. "Now you'll have to stay the best, Zoro, if you have to beat him again!"

Zoro grunted then raised an eyebrow at the slack-jawed crew. "What?"

A chorus of "Nothings!" rang out, followed by a flurry of munching.

Sanji snorted. "Figures that's all you did, lazy marimo."

Zoro narrowed his eyes. "What?"

"You just sailed around until you found Mihawk, missing every adventure on the whole Grand Line. You probably slept the whole time and made Chopper navigate."

"I did other things, too!" Zoro snapped. Then, quieter, "Just none of it was important."

Sanji snorted again.

There was a pause. "I found All Blue," Zoro offered.

That rankled. Sanji narrowed his eyes. "We'll see."

"What, you don't believe me, you shitty cook? I spent good money to have that map made!"

"We spent two years looking for it, plus all that time before. I refuse to believe that you just stumbled upon All Blue by accident."

The crew was eyeing them warily. Luffy grinned, disarming them both. "Well, we'll know soon enough. According to the map, it's only two weeks from here."

"Yes, we will." Zoro asserted.

Sanji took a drag on his cigarette and turned, gazing out the window at the blue water beyond.

*****

Sanji, elbow-deep in dishsoap, felt a presence at his side after the crew and their captain had filed out. Without turning, he tossed a clean dish over and heard the slap as it was caught.

"Sanji." Zoro stated.

Sanji raised an eyebrow and passed him another dish.

"Saa-nji." His nakama said again, placing the dried dish to the side.

"Sanjiii-"

Sanji kicked him lightly on his head, hard enough to make him wince but that was all. "Knock it off, marimo." Damn, but Zoro had been right before. That was annoying.

"Oi, you shitty cook, I was trying to be helpful."

"Like hell you were, asshole."

"I remember learning that trick from you."

Suddenly, Sanji found himself spun around, back pressed into the counter. "Oi, you shitty-mmf-" The rest of his sentence was swallowed as Zoro pressed his firm lips over his mouth.

Sanji's rational mind had about a split second to analyze how detrimental this would be to his masculine pride before Zoro thrust his tongue between his lips. Coherent thought left him.

Zoro shoved a muscular thigh between Sanji's legs, grinding their groins together until they had mutual erections. Finally Sanji broke them apart, trying not to gasp.

Zoro's eyes were dilated and dark as he looked into Sanji's own. His voice was low when he spoke. "Did you ever want this before." It wasn't quite a question.

The question hit Sanji hard. His impulse was to say No, Never, because before five hours ago he was convinced that women were the goddesses around which the world revolved. He was still well-known as a skirt chaser, even among their new crewmates.

The swordsman had always gotten under his skin, though. If he forced himself to think about it, honestly, he'd always spent more time preoccupied with the swordsman and the ways he annoyed him than he ever did with any of the girls. But it had never occured to him to question why he cared so much about what that damned marimo thought. Or why he spent more time in close physical contact with the swordsman than he did with any woman.

"I don't know." Sanji said.

Something in Zoro's eyes closed off. Sanji felt it like a slap in the face.

"Zoro. I'll tell you what I do know." Sanji wrapped a leg around Zoro's knee, drawing them closer. The swordsman had stilled, his hands splayed over the cook's back. His voice low, Sanji continued, "When they found your damned towel-" Sanji swallowed. He racked his brain, but everything he came up with was unmentionable. "Just never fucking do that again."

"It's a haramaki." Zoro half-growled.

But the light was back in his eyes as he leaned forward to kiss the cook.

*****