Chapter 13

"Do you have your lunchbox?" Sanji yelled from the kitchen.

The patrons of Moss Burger watched as Sanji went through the checklist. Chopper was already coming to eight and it has been about three months since the family restaurant opened. Of the many customers the restaurant had daily, Luffy and Mihawk were the biggest regulars.

Zoro was waiting for Chopper to be ready so he could walk his son to the university before he left for work. Today, he was going to be accompanying Robin for some big meeting with the higher ups. Sanji was going to be busy because they now had two new recruits – Koby and Helmeppo.

"I'll be back late. Don't wait up," Zoro said and kissed his cook on the lips before grabbing Chopper's hand to leave.

Sanji blushed at that kiss and was in a daze as he watched his lover and son leave. Even after a year, he still couldn't get used to the romantic side that Zoro showed every now and then.

Today was a special day. Chopper had completed his degree program with the university in record time and was accepted as a student of the master degree's research program under Dr Kureha's recommendation. Today is the day Chopper enters Grand Line University as the youngest master research program student. According to Kaya, with Chopper's intelligence, he can graduate by the age of twelve with a PhD if the boy really wanted to. However, Zoro and Sanji told Chopper to take it easy. Becoming a doctor wasn't going anywhere. Instead, they wanted Chopper to take time to enjoy his student life. The boy was initially worried about finances but after Zeff sternly told Chopper that his job was to be happy and leave the serious things to adults, Chopper relented.

Children should enjoy their childhood and while not much of it was left for Chopper, the adults around him were determined to make the most out of the few years of childhood left for Chopper. The young doctor-in-training was very spoiled by his parents and is grandfather that he saw weekly. For some reason, Robin became Chopper's godmother and Franky was very happy to treat the boy like his own son too. The couple didn't have children of their own because of Robin's job but lately, the woman had been considering of retiring to start a family of her own.

Nami left her banker's job as promised and was an exceptional manager for both the Baratie and Moss Burger. Zeff was now only helping out in the kitchen whenever he was required but for most the time, he preferred spending it with Chopper or Sanji.

As the head chef of the family restaurant chain, Sanji was a little sulky over the fact that Zoro's weird green burger recipe was the best-selling item on their menu. He made many different items and introduced many marvelous dishes that did better in the Baratie than they did at Moss Burger and Sanji couldn't understand why the green burger was their top seller. It was a family restaurant but for some reason, it was turning into a high-functioning healthy fast-food joint for some reason. The kids from the university nearby liked to drop by. It didn't help that Luffy and Mihawk dropped by only for that special green burger. The rest of the meals were eaten at the Baratie but not as frequently as they were seen with Sanji.

"Why do you people always come here? What's so special about the moss burger?" Sanji asked once Zoro was gone. Unable to withstand the frustration of having no other ways of succeeding the moss burger's popularity, Sanji decided to ask his two most regular customers.

Luffy chewed and stuffed a few fries into his mouth before replying. "It's easy to eat moss burgers when compared to all the other food on your menu not that they don't taste good too. It's just very relatable."

Mihawk nodded. "Not to mention economically friendly. While it is nice to eat at the Baratie, the selling point of eating at a family restaurant is the easy accessibility to everyone and not having to conform to strict etiquettes. You can eat alone without anyone judging you. Friends, families, couples and even business associates can eat at a family restaurant without being scrutinized. It's nice to be away from people's eyes sometimes."

Sanji sighed in defeat. Was that really it?

"Oh, the burger also has a nice colour. Kind of strange but it feels odd not to eat a buger anywhere else when it isn't green," Luffy commented and Sanji smacked the hitman.

Luffy fell backwards and groaned. "Sanji, why'd you hit me? That was mean!"

The cook ignored him and went back to the kitchen, blushing terribly. While Luffy wasn't wrong, he couldn't believe that the hitman had gone ahead to say what was exactly on Sanji's mind. He never saw it this way before the restaurant started but after selling green burgers by the hundreds every day, it was hard not to associate it with a certain somebody who had green hair. Like Luffy, he was unable to eat a burger that wasn't green after Moss Burgers took off. Sanji secretly felt that he would never tire of its flavor either. After all, it was something special that was invented by his family.

His family… Sanji felt his lips tug upwards at that warm thought. His relationship with Zoro was going strong and everything felt perfect right now except for that one thing. Sanji tapped his left pocket to feel that small reassuring bulge and grinned.

That's right. Sanji hasn't officially joined the family yet. Chopper had taken on the name of Roronoa Tony Chopper but Sanji was still Sanji Blackleg. Zeff had hinted on many occasions that he wanted to prepare their engagement party in the Baratie before he kicked the bucket but Zoro didn't seem to take the hint. Hence, Sanji had gone ahead to take the initiative and bought a ring. It might be a little ahead of himself to propose and take on the swordsman's name but Sanji didn't have any particular attachments to his old name. Blackleg wasn't even Zeff's surname. It was a name that Sanji chose for himself to rid of his old family name. Now, he could proudly be a Roronoa but first, he had to prep dinner request. It was a good thing that Chopper would be in bed already by the time Zoro returned because he intended to propose in a rather adult manner.

Xxx Destiny Aitsuji xxX

Chopper was asleep in his bedroom when Zoro got home. The lights were on but dimmed which made him instantly alert. There was no sign of movement and Zoro was curious as to what Sanji was up to this time. The cook texted him earlier after he ended his shift and said that he prepared dinner for them. It was going to be a lazy date night at home and Zoro readily agreed.

This really wasn't what he was expecting when Sanji said that he was going to plan a lazy date night. The man was putting too much effort into something lazy and Zoro snorted in amusement. Really, the cook was too much of a romantic for this.

"Welcome back," Sanji greeted in a low voice that made Zoro smile automatically.

"I'm home," he replied and walked over to share a long kiss. Zoro took Sanji's tongue with his and played with it, making the cook in his arms squirm.

Sanji lost himself for a moment, swept along with Zoro's pace. He knew what he said about preparing a lazy dinner date night to calm his nerves but the shitty swordsman wasn't making it easy for him with his other kind of hunger.

"Time out!" Sanji gasped and Zoro licked the cook's lower lip.

"What? I thought you said I could take my time at dinner," Zoro growled and Sanji felt that go to his loins.

Sanji swallowed nervously and adjusted his position in Zoro's arms to put some distance between them. Sensing that the atmosphere around his lover was rather serious, Zoro stopped fooling around. His concern came out in torrents when he asked what was wrong.

Sanji was touched by Zoro's concern and took that as a sign from above that this was the man God had chosen for him. Sanji pulled out a small box from his back pocket and knelt down on one knee before Zoro who froze with his jaw wide open. His arms were reaching out to support Sanji who had gone down so suddenly that he didn't know how to react to having a ring shoved in his face.

"Cook, what-?"

"Shh," Sanji told him. "Roronoa Zoro, about a year ago we met the first time when you were bleeding out in the back alley of the Baratie. At that time, I didn't think that you would become one of the most important people in my life. Now, I don't think I can do without you or Chopper in my life. Moss Burger wouldn't be the same without that same shitty green shade as your hair and as cheesy as it sounds, I want to spend the rest of my life cooking for you. Roronoa Zoro, won't you marry me?"

Zoro's eyes burned with a fire that Sanji had never seen before. Before he knew it, he was crushed against Zoro's chest and his lips devoured by the bodyguard. The kiss made Sanji feverish and Zoro didn't allow him time to breathe while he was busy reminding Sanji about who he belonged to.

When they finally parted for oxygen, Zoro growled into Sanji's ear making him grow limp.

"God fucking dammit, Sanji! When did you have time to prepare all this with the restaurant being crazy every day? I was just talking to Nami about it the other day… the rings would have been ready for collection on Saturday. What am I going to do about those now?"

Sanji blushed as Zoro looked him in the eyes and kissed him again, this time with less aggression but no less passion.

This time, after breaking apart, Sanji smiled. "It's simple, marimo. You just have to say yes and then we can use the pair of rings you made for our wedding. Of course, we need to inform Zeff about it. I don't want him throwing a fit about not getting to plan our engagement party at the Baratie."

Zoro laughed and nuzzled noses. "What am I going to do without you?"

Sanji laughed and pecked Zoro on the cheek. "Nothing. You're going to love me and I'm not going anywhere unless it's to the bedroom to pound my fucking brains out."

Zoro growled and smacked Sanji on the bottom warningly. "Don't regret it."

Sanji grinned and hooked his legs around Zoro's waist. "I won't. Now, how about we commemorate this by christening the new bed sheets that I bought?"

Naturally, Zoro couldn't turn down the offer and they went to the bedroom, forgetting all about dinner until two hours later when Sanji's brains finally came back to him. As the cook complained about letting little Zoro get ahead of Zoro's muscle-filled brain, Zoro couldn't help but have a sappy smile on his face.

Watching the cook move around in the kitchen was magic but watching the cook move around in his kitchen with a ring on his hand made Zoro feel invincible. Without Sanji knowing, the swordsman took a picture of his domestic husband with the ring clearly in view before sending it out to a few people on his contact list.

Sanji didn't know why his phone was going off so wildly so late at night so he ignored it. He had to ensure that dinner was heated up properly after all. Zoro didn't make any comments as they ate. Their lazy date night continued with a shower together then a movie till they both fell asleep together on the comfortable couch.

Chopper woke up the next morning to notice that extra accessory that his parents wore and grinned. Sanji's plan must have gone off without a hitch. Zoro sensed his son's presence and cracked open an eye. He took a glance at Sanji who was still snoring softly and put a finger to his lip. Chopper nodded and giggled silently before leaving for school.

Only when they were truly alone, Zoro decided to take in the sight of his slumbering lover. Placing a gentle kiss on Sanji's head, he whispered the three words that he'd never let Sanji hear while he was wake.

"I love you."

The End

Author's Notes: Thank you for reading all the way till the end, it was a side project for me and thank you Shizu-chan for the request! Hope you enjoyed this ZoSan as much as I did.

If you like my writing and want to read some of my original works to support me, I have 2 contracted works with Webnovel called "Ball of Nothing" and "Love Journal – As Told by an Emotionally-constipated Half-genius" that you can check out 3

Until next time!