DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN ONE PIECE OR ANY OF THE CHARACTERS

I decided to write another ZoroxSanji at the same time as the other one. At first I was trying out a SanjixLuffy but things just twisted into this.

Enjoy, please review and tell me what you think otherwise I will automatically think that the story is shit and will delete it. Gosh I'm evil. Meh!

*****

Today was not Sanji's best day. No cigarettes to relieve his stress and not a single shop on this shitty island which sells them even though, for once, he had his own money to buy them with. He had planned to make frog legs for dinner but he wasn't so sure now. His hands were shaking uncontrollably and the tremors were slowly rising up his arms. The warnings that the old fart Zeff crept up on him suddenly.

"There is a reason why the food at Niku's is lousy. The main chef is old. Don't forget little shit-head, men with shaky hands are not fit to be called a cook!"

'SAAAAAAAANJIIIIIII! I'm hungry!' Luffy shouted from the dock. Sanji bit the inside of his lip and crossed the kitchen to open the door.

'I can't cook anything today, lazy shit-head. Besides, we have dinner at seven, not five' He said, waiting for the screaming.

'But Sanji!'

'I said no! Can't you hear or should I kick your big fat head to make it better?' Sanji replied, hoping that someone else could cook, certainly not one of the ladies. He didn't want their precious hands to get dirty.

'What's wrong? Have you finally realised that you're a shit cook?' The famous Roronoa Zoro called from the wooden railing. He had just woken up and had already started to beat down on Sanji's ego.

'No marimo-bastard. If you find my cooking that bad, you can stop eating it!'

'Are you smoke deprived or something dartboard eyebrows? What's wrong with your hands?'

'No I'm not smoke deprived, I'm just really excited to see you shitty swordsman.'

'I didn't know you loved me so much, curlicue!'

'Sure, I can't stand being away from you; even when I dream about you we're just not close enough!'

'Too far ero-cook.'

'Agreed. I'm out of cigarettes. I'm in no condition to cook.' Sanji said, deciding to lay off the insults.

'If you're "such a great cook" then you should be able to cook in any condition.' Zoro replied, adding the air quotations for emphasis.

Sanji thought it through. He should really be able to cook fine dishes no matter what had happened to him but that wasn't the problem. The risk of cutting his main tools were too high. If his hands were damaged, what would he do?

'I'll give it a try.' He said more to himself than to Zoro.

Sanji walked back into the kitchen and got the ingredients out. First was frying the onions which meant chopping. He got the chopping board out along with a vegetable knife and peeled the large onion slower than usual. He placed the small, sharp knife near the root and got a tight grip to try and get rid of the trembling. He pressed down and it was cut clean. He cut it in half with more confidence and place one piece flat part down. He pressed the knife in the side at an angle and put pressure on but he misjudged the angle and it shot too wide, cutting the tip of his finger.

'SHIT!' It was loud, really loud.

Zoro heard the cuss and smirked. He swung the door open and walked over to Sanji who had his index finger wrapped in a kitchen towel.

'Get out.'

'You must be a shit-cook.'

'I said get out Zoro!'

Sanji's voice broke. The tears that were threatening to spill were not because of the pain or the blood but because of the fact that he was a useless chef.

Zoro was stunned as he saw the mental hurt in Sanji's eye. He walked over to the pained man and took his hand.

'Let me have a look.'

Sanji looked up at the other man, confused at the kindness.

'C'mon, open up.'

The hand slowly loosened its grip on the kitchen towel and Zoro lifted it up. A good bit of the skin had been removed but it was nothing serious. The swordsman dampened the towel and wrapped it around the tip.

'Keep it there a sec.' He said before heading for the door.

'Oi, don't tell anyone.' Sanji said desperately.

Zoro nodded and walked out. A minute later he came back with disinfectant, a bandage and some masking tape. He carefully nursed Sanji's finger and then handed him a pair of yellow washing gloves. His hands were shaking a lot more than before and his eyes were still wide with shock.

'Thanks...marimo.'

'Whatever. What about dinner ero-cook?'

'I'll get someone else to do it.' Sanji said grabbing the mop and shakily wiped the floor clean.

'I think I'm alright in the kitchen.' Zoro replied, washing the knife of the red substance.

'Spit it out.'

'What?'

'Why are you being so nice? What happened to the shitty swordsman?' Sanji demanded, almost as if he missed the old bastard.

'I dunno; I guess if I were you right now I'd be pissed with myself.'

'Oh...well, thanks.'

'No problem curlicue. So what do I do?'

'We need a fresh onion for a start.'

'Check.'

'Now cut the root off.'

'Like so?'

'Yeah.'

Sanji watched Zoro chop up the onion decently. The pieces were a bit too big but he wasn't expecting anything great.

'Not bad marimo-head.'

'Like I said, I'm alright in the kitchen.'

*******

'FOOOOOD!' Luffy shouted. He burst into the kitchen and sat down next to Zoro who was already there.

'Oi, oi. Not so loud shit-head.'

'Hurry up Sanji! I'm half-starved!'

'I said not so loud!'

Sanji placed the plates in front of Robin and Nami first with a smile.

Zoro watched closely. Sanji's normal approach to the women was usually more valiant but he didn't say a word to them.

Robin eyed both Zoro and Sanji and let a smile linger on her lips. The swordsman decided that nothing in the world was kept away from her knowledge.

Soon enough, everyone was tucking in to the frog legs in front of them. Sanji was looking out for reactions but everyone seemed normal. There were queries about the dish itself but that was it.

When everyone had cleared out – except Zoro – Sanji dished out a portion for himself and tasted it. It was good, not great but good.

Zoro smirked as he loaded the plates into the sink and turned on the hot water.

'Not bad, huh?'

'You should help me more often Shitty swordsman.'

'No way. I'm not spending hours in here every day just because you cut your finger.' Zoro said immediately.

'Oh.'

'What did you expect love-cook? My kindness has a very short limit.'

'Of course; it's just that it's another two days before we reach an island and I'm gonna get worse.'

'Then you better start practicing shit-cook. You can't just ignore this hurdle of yours. You need to jump over it.'

Sanji frowned at Zoro for a few seconds and then turned away to put away a plate.

Zoro decided to stay in the kitchen while Sanji chopped random things which he would store in the freezer for future use. The swordsman, who was lying face up on a row of chairs heard constant swearing which decreased in time. Soon Zoro was half-asleep and Sanji was chopping chillies just as fast as he did normally.

He sighed and wrapped up the red and green segments and fitted them in the fridge. He looked at Zoro, fast asleep now, and smiled slightly. He was so nice to him that it made up for the shitiness of his day but he knew that it would all change tomorrow. They would be back to calling each other stupid names and fighting twenty-four/seven.

Sanji slid down to the clean floor and automatically fumbled around in his pocket for a cigarette but grasped empty air. He sighed and closed his eyes. He slowly became drowsy and fell to his side making his eyes flutter open slightly before slipping into his first dream of the night.

*****

Enjoy?

Good.

Now, I will post the NEXT CHAPTER as soon as someone gets this RIDDLE right:

Zebra

Cobra

Barrack

Troop

CLUE: it's as easy as 1, 2, 3, 4