The hatch opened with a small cry and threw dirt on Zoro's face. He startled, coughed and tried to back off, but slipped a little and almost fell down from the ladder. Careful push from behind saved him. He breathed and turned to see Sanji, who waved his hand and smiled, and Zoro turned quickly around again, in embarrassment. He opened the hatch fully and climbed up few steps, so he could see the small, dirty attic - and because there was absolutely nothing suspious, he pulled himself up to the darkness. Sanji came right after him and, though he made an annoyed glance, he let Zoro help him a little.

The attic was full of boxes and cloth bags, and there were many things from stuffed bears to wooden sticks lying on the floor, buried in the dust. The room was small and it looked even smaller with all those things and all that dirt, which was flying around and covering everything. The only light was the one coming from the hatch, downstairs, but it didn't take that long to get used to the darkness. And besides, they owned flashlights. Sanji looked at Zoro and nodded, and without words they both chose sides and started opening the boxes one by one.

Zoro wasn't quite sure what they were looking for. It'd been some days ago, when Sanji had started talking about the attic and something he wanted to find. Zoro hadn't been so happy about going to that filthy place, but Sanji had demanded and asked so many times he'd given up. So, now they were looking for something that Sanji didn't want to reveal and Zoro had no idea why he was helping with something he couldn't even possibly find. Besides, the attic was full of things and toys from their - and mostly Sanji's - childhood, so Zoro couldn't come up with anything so special.

They didn't notice how the hours started flying. There was always a thing or two in every box, which gave memories and stories, and everytime they found something they shared what they remembered and told their tales. There was their rock collection, familiar books, some clothes, toy cars and drawings. They were getting dirtier and dirtier and the floor was completely a mess, until Sanji seemed to find that he was looking for.

Zoro wasn't sure what he was supposed to be thinking when Sanji raised two plastic rings and laughed excitedly. "Do you remember these?"

Well, Zoro did. There had been these small candy bags when they were young. Candies were always good and they both liked them, but there was always a small surprise in every bag and that was the thing everyone wanted back then. Sometimes they had found boring things for girls, sometimes great things for boys; mostly junk, actually, like those rings. Sanji's parents had given those bags to them and Zoro had been the one opening his own first - and he had found a plastic ring with a plastic green diamond in it. It'd been a disappointment, of course, so he'd immediately moved to see Sanji's toy and for their surprise Sanji had found a similar ring, but with a blue diamond.

"Do you remember what my mom said?" Sanji asked, got up and walked to stand in front of Zoro.

"About what?"

"About these, you idiot! She said that maybe these were meant to be a gift for our girlfriends", Sanji sighed and grinned. "Then you said that you hate girls and I said that it's a good idea, remember?"

Zoro raised his eyebrows. "And why in the earth you wanted to find those?"

"You're slow. Take these", Sanji gave the rings to Zoro. "You will use these when you ask me to marry you."

"What?"

"You heard me."

Zoro stared at Sanji and blinked stupidly, until he started blushing from head to toes. "What the hell are you saying? Never! I'm never going to do that! Believe me, no, never! Keep your fantasies to yourself! Never!"

"Oh, you believe me, because I know you're going to do it anyway. It's a fate!"

"Don't even think about it!"

And even if Zoro refused and complained the whole day, he couldn't get a grin away from Sanji's face.