"I'm so sorry, Sanji. She couldn't keep it up," Rikka faintly told him as he woke, her cheeks wet as she rested a hand on the forehead of the unconscious high priestess.

"Did it work?! Chopper?" Sanji spoke quickly, still dizzy from the sudden shift back. He rotated on his knees to face the furry little doctor.

Chopper's eyes were glistening as he removed the stethoscope from his ears. "I'm so sorry. Everybody…" he bawled. "I'm so sorry! If only I had-"

"He'll be alright, Chopper," Luffy said as he stood motionless, his arms crossed over his chest.

"Luffy…" Nami gently came up beside him, her eyes glistening. "Chopper said-"

"He'll be fine. Sanji's with him," he interrupted, watching the cook from the darkness under the brim of his straw hat.

Sanji gathered up Zoro's hand, their thread of fate cascading over their fingers, and pressed it to his face, absolutely losing it in a series of muffled, shuddering sobs that both baffled and broke his crew mates' hearts.

The cook froze as Zoro's hand suddenly moved, gently stroking his cheek. Sanji's heart began pounding with elation as he started to sit up.

"You fucking idiot…" the blond man whimpered, hurriedly rubbing the tears out of his eyes with the back of his hand.

"Miss me?" Zoro asked softly as he cupped the cook's chin in his hand, brushing the fresh rivers of tears away from his cheek with his thumb.

The swordsman's smug smirk was covered with warm lips as the cook engulfed him, practically knocking him back down on the ground in his haste to kiss him.

Sanji's exuberance was contagious, and the Zoro was unable to stop himself from grinning, returning the emotional flurry of relieved kisses with equal voracity.

A high-pitched, nervous voice suddenly wavered beside them.

"Guys, um, can I see Zoro for a minute? I mean, he seems like he's doing good but I still really need to check him out," Chopper stuttered.

The cook tore himself away, a hot blush burning up his face as he remembered that their nakama were there, currently gawking at them in absolute shock.

As Zoro was getting hugged on and then examined by the fuzzy doctor, Sanji stood and impassively grabbed a cigarette.

"I'm fine, I promise," the swordsman attempted to convince the doctor.

Part of his green robe was burned away, and every inch of him was covered in grimy soot. The confusing smell of wood smoke permeated the air around him. His eyebrows jumped as his eye fell across the smoldering temple.

"I was doing CPR on you for a real long time, Zoro," the little reindeer explained in a tiny voice, tears gathering in his eyes yet again.

Zoro pulled his hand through his soft, green waves, exhaling slowly as his eye traveled between the doctor and the cook.

No wonder he had been so damn happy to see him.

"Thanks, Chopper," he said. As his thoughts grimly lingered on this, the buzz of the crew talking amongst themselves floated over to him.

"That love temple is the real deal!" Usopp exclaimed, dumbfounded.

"I'm sure that this still won't keep Sanji from being all pervy with women, though!" Franky laughed.

"How romantic! I was sure I'd be dead before I got to see their love finally blossom! Wait, but I'm already dead! Yohohohohoho!" Brook laughed.

Zoro peered up at Sanji as he calmly smoked with his back to the crew. The cook's visible eye was as cold as marble, and a dangerous aura oozed from his still form.

The swordsman subtly verified the location his katanas.

Right as Chopper gave Zoro the all clear, Sanji raised his leg and repeatedly stomped on him.

"Shitty marimo! Why the hell would you do something like that to me in front of everybody?!" the cook yelled, an indignant frown tightening over his splotchy red face.

"What? You're the one who started it! And you're making it worse by screaming at me over it," he pointed out, diving for a sword to defend himself from the irate cook's kicks.

"Besides, it saves us the trouble of eventually getting caught later on. We live on a small ship, curly brow. It's shameful to sneak around," the swordsman explained nonchalantly through crossed blades.

"What? You don't even know if there is going to be a later on! I could still tell you to go to hell," the cook threatened, articulating it with a sharp kick aimed at his groin, which Zoro hurriedly blocked.

"You won't. And I wasn't even thinking about who else was watching when I opened my eyes, moron," he sighed, lowering his katanas.

"Eye. You only have one now because you're careless," Sanji corrected, his stream of cigarette smoke waving tauntingly over the swordsman.

"Will you just shut the hell up?! Look, I wasn't thinking about that, because when I saw you, nothing else mattered," Zoro told him.

He spotted their friends' mouths dropping open again out of the corner of his eye.

Luffy stepped forward with his hands on his hips, laughing triumphantly. "I knew you'd bring him back! Good work, Sanji!"

"Uh, thanks, Luffy," the cook said with a weak smile, his shoulders slumped in utter humiliation and exhaustion.

Nami stepped towards the cook, a sly grin on her face. Zoro glared at the navigator. This could make or break what they had just begun.

"Nami-swan!" Sanji gulped, practically cowering before her.

"Honestly, you could have given me a little hint so I could have started collecting bets! I would have made a killing!" she sighed, rubbing her temples. "Anyway, that sad look on your face is giving me a headache. Just give me advance warning before you start making any more unlikely life decisions, ok?" she said coyly, winking at him.

The cook nodded, pulling the corners of his mouth into the brightest smile he could muster at the moment. "Sure thing, Nami-swan…"

As Sanji and Nami spoke, Usopp sidestepped conspiratorially towards Zoro.

"Hey, Zoro, watch out! Robin just told Luffy he can marry people because he's captain," the sniper whispered, cupping his hand beside his mouth.

The swordsman slid a hand down his face, sighing. "Great. Thanks for the warning," he groaned.

Rikka ran up and gave them each a crushing hug. "I'm so glad you'll have a lucky thirteen," she bawled, wiping at her eyes.

"I'm sorry about your temple, Rikka-chan," Sanji apologized, then leaned in so only she could hear.

"You did your best for us, and I'll do mine to safeguard a young lady's dream," he told her, peering over at the distracted swordsman with a subtle flicker of resigned affection.

Her smile was like a honey colored beam of sunlight lancing through a stormcloud.

The high priestess sat up on her elbows, clearing her throat. "You have completed the trials. I can still hide your-"

"Hell no," Zoro abruptly interrupted, scowling at her.

Sanji smacked the back of the swordsman's head. "You'll have to ignore him, he's a complete idiot. No, thanks," Sanji replied, getting a wide grin from the priestess.

"I only wish I could see your thread of fate. I think it could be worth studying," Robin said as she walked up, her blue eyes moving cunningly between Sanji and Zoro.

"I could talk to my boss about that, Nico Robin," Rikka winked.

Before Zoro could chime in to veto that suggestion, Luffy's voice sailed shrilly over the crew. "Alright! When's the wedding? We need a big cake! And lots of meat!"

"Yohohohoho! I can provide the music!" Brook chimed in, producing a violin out of nowhere.

"Of course you'll want to pick the great Usopp as your best man!" the sniper said proudly, throwing his head back in a laugh.

The two were already halfway down the hill to the Sunny by the time they were missed.

"Married. Are you kidding? We couldn't get married even if we wanted to. Which is not even an option, got it?" Sanji added irritably.

"Alright, cook, but that won't stop them from trying. A captain can marry people on their ship, right? And I heard that your precious Robin told our captain, who doesn't give a shit about the rest of the world's laws, all about it," Zoro explained, frowning sourly as he watched Sanji's eye grow wide as he spoke.

"I'd say this is one of the few places in the world where we could actually get legally married," he shrugged. "Not that we should or anything. We've only been together for all of two seconds."

"We're not even together. I never even said I wanted to be with you!" Sanji griped.

Zoro groaned, aggravatedly exhaling into his steepled fingers. "Look, it's pretty obvious you do, but we can think about all that stuff tomorrow. Right now I just want to go to sleep," he yawned, rubbing his smoke-stained face.

"Me too. This has been one of the most embarrassing days of my life," the cook grumbled, sliding his hands into his pockets and puffing on his cigarette as he silently walked at Zoro's side.

Sanji let a long pause creep by before speaking again.

"Oi, marimo. What happened after Rikka-chan and I left? Do you...remember anything?" Sanji pried, studying him from out of the corner of his eye.

"I must have disappeared pretty soon after you guys left. All I remember is waking up with you crying all over me. Why?" Zoro inquired suspiciously.

"No reason," the cook replied numbly, his eye focused straight ahead.

Once aboard, Sanji hurried to the bathroom to wash the thick layer of black soot and the acrid smell of smoke off of his aching body.

The cook undressed, then crouched on a stool, vigorously scrubbing the dirt off and zealously eyeing the hot bath that awaited him once he was finished. He was just beginning to relax when Zoro sank down on the stool next to him. Sanji flinched to cover the right side of his face where his hair had been slicked back with shampoo.

"Shitty marimo! Can't I get a moment's peace? I'm not in the mood," he hissed, turning away and vigorously rinsing the soap from his hair, pulling a swath of it over his eye.

"Not in the mood for what?" the swordsman asked drolly.

"I don't know. Messing around. Sex. Whatever you're looking for," the cook replied coldly.

"I'm not looking for that right now," Zoro mumbled as he doused himself with a bucketful of gloriously warm water and began rinsing the soot and grime off of his chest.

"And I don't care about your stupid eyebrows," the swordsman added before vigorously soaping up his face. He heard the cook huff beside him.

They settled into a comfortable silence, wordlessly passing soap back and forth as rivers of black flowed down the drain. Sanji rose and climbed into the bath, closing his eye as he leaned against the side, thick clouds of steam circling close to the water's surface. Zoro joined him, submerging into the amazing heat right next to him.

As the swordsman soaked and unwound, he found himself meditatively watching beads of water roll slowly down the cook's smooth, pale shoulders. When he looked up, he found the other man staring back at him.

Sanji exhaled tiredly, then leaned forward and bumped his head into Zoro's collarbone where his scar began. One of the swordsman's arms snaked around him, cupping the wet hair matted down on the back of his head with his palm as he squeezed him closer.

"I want to give this a shot," Sanji whispered.

"I know," Zoro said.

"You're a complete asshole, you know that?" Sanji replied, a touch of heat to his tone.

Zoro couldn't argue with that. "You like it," he smirked.

"You wish." The cook rose from the bath and hurled a towel at the swordsman's head.

They dressed in comfortable sleeping clothes and made their way to the dormitory together.

Every one of Zoro's muscles cried out for the soft bedding of the wooden hammocks, and he gracelessly toppled into one face first.

Sanji began climbing into his own bunk when he felt a tug on his shirt. He flung a glance over his shoulder to see the swordsman scoot over in his bed, patting the space beside him.

"That's where all this mess started," Sanji said wryly.

"Mmm," Zoro grunted as the cook carefully slipped in beside him.

"Only for a little bit," Sanji stipulated, nestling into the warmth between Zoro's outstretched arms. "I don't want anyone to see us."

"You don't want the girls to see us. Who cares anyway? They don't sleep here," he whispered into his ear, kissing lightly down his neck.

"Shut the hell up, shitty marimo," Sanji groaned, the back of his throat opening into a huge yawn which he deposited into the swordsman's shirt.

"You shut up, idiot curly brow," Zoro muttered, closing his eye and resting his chin on the crown of the cook's head, the calming waves of sleep rolling over him like an advancing tide.

The swordsman was on the verge of unconsciousness when the cook lightly shook him. Zoro felt the other man's muscles tense under his fingertips.

"Marimo." Sanji nudged him again.

The swordsman's eye batted open. "I'm awake," he responded groggily.

"I can't sleep. I'm too pissed off that you don't remember," the cook announced.

The corners of Zoro's mouth pulled down into a tight scowl. "Just hurry and tell me what I should be remembering, because I'm exhausted," he snapped testily.

Sanji wedged a knee underneath of him and dumped him on the floor with a loud rattle of the wooden floorboards.

"Oi! You bastard! What the fuck was that for?!" Zoro yelled indignantly as he shot up, now fully awake. "Just what the hell are you so worked up over?!" he demanded, his eyebrows pulling together in annoyance and confusion.

"You don't remember, but in that last dream I realized something when I was fucking begging for you not to die. In that moment, I knew that I would never want anyone as much as I wanted you. That even though you don't have boobs or brains or a damn shred of common sense, I don't know why, but I love you so much it hurts!" Sanji yelled angrily, his shoulders heaving with excited breaths.

Zoro froze for a long, disbelieving moment, the blood pounding in his ears. Then he moved, frantically launching back onto the fluffy bed and pressing dozens of velvety soft kisses all over the cook, covering his lips, hands, face, and neck.

The swordsman had decided. This was the man he wanted by his side when he achieved his dream, the one he wanted to kick ass with and raise havoc all over the world's seas until his dying breath.

"Marry me," the swordsman heard himself whisper in between kisses, his voice low and breathy. The warmth of Zoro's reddening face began to rise to a boil. Shit! He definitely didn't mean to say that out loud!

Sanji gasped, pushing back on his shoulders to stop the barrage. His jewel-like blue eye bored into Zoro's, systematically gauging some unknown quantity behind the swordsman's gaze with chilly seriousness.

Zoro rubbed the back of his neck, quickly explaining himself. "Cook, I, uh, might have gotten a little carried…"

"Alright," the cook replied.

"What?!" Zoro exclaimed, nearly falling out of the hammock.

"I'm saying yes, idiot," Sanji sighed, his raw happiness hard to disguise in the way his hands glided affectionately over the swordsman.

Zoro grabbed his lover, his hands all over him, their mouths repeatedly confirming the powerful feelings between them that reverberated like chills through their entire bodies.

Impatient kisses turned into slow, languid ones as drowsiness beckoned once again like a soothing lullaby. The scent of the ocean and cigarette smoke invoked scattered scenes of pleasant memories as Zoro pressed his face into Sanji's hair.

They drifted to sleep with their bodies curled around one another, neither of them realizing that the tiny beginnings another weft was busily knitting itself together in the red thread that proudly draped over them.

Author's note: Thank you so much for reading my first fanfic. To tell you the truth I was deeply depressed this time last year, and immersing myself in the worlds that other fanfiction authors created with my favorite couple helped me get through that time. So I began writing to give back, in my own way. My hope is that this story helped you relax, have fun, and feel better for a bit.

If you liked this story, you may enjoy my new AU Zosan fanfic:

The Hidden Prince - s/12282757/1/The-Hidden-Prince

Zoro's simple life masquerading as a human is forever changed after he saves his irritating, curly-browed coworker from a violent attack. As his secrets unravel, the incubus must run from the oppressive regime that is relentlessly hunting him. But being a fugitive isn't so bad, especially when a certain cook has no choice but to come along for the ride. AU.