A/N: I want to thank KareKazeshini for giving me the idea and my wonderful IshiIchiMari for being my beta! I love you *hugs* You're awesome!

Rain

It was an ugly day. Everything seemed so gray, dark and without even a little sparkle of light. The thick rain that had been falling from the sky for hours didn't make things better, but the opposite — because of it the whole world looked more depressed than it actually was.

But for one boy with blond hair and blue melancholic eyes, the day was sadder for him than for most people. Sitting on a big, cold rock beneath a giant tree, he unsuccessfully tried to hide from the rain. He was soaking wet and cold since he had only wore a T-shirt, a thin coat with lots of holes, worn out shorts and ruined shoes. His blond hair which may have been fluffy once, now was a bunch of messy, grubby strands. And he was hungry, oh, so hungry...

The child embraced himself in hope of getting a little bit warmer; but it didn't work at all. He looked at the gray crying sky and let thick drops fall onto his dirty, pale face. He wished he had a warm, loving home; a mother that would hug him and tell so many interesting good-night stories, a father that would teach him everything he should know as a man or even just a little, dry corner somewhere — it didn't matter where — so he could have some peaceful sleep. He wished he could eat something hot and tasty, anything but those awful leftovers that had gone bad long, long ago.

The blond-haired boy curled his knees up to his thin chest and rested his chin upon them. He dreamed about so many things he knew he couldn't have, just like some fantasizing young fool — but he couldn't help it. Those dreams, those pictures in his mind of happy future that seemed so unrealistic and distant... They kept him alive. For those stupid dreams he was able to keep moving on no matter what happened to him.

So many people passed by him but none of them stopped. No one asked if he was alright, if he needed help... No one cared. They all acted like he didn't exist.

And the rain continued falling down as if it was an endless river of tears. But suddenly it stopped like it had never been raining.

The blonde looked up to see a boy with strange, short green hair and three gold earrings in one ear, swaying and tinkling playfully due to the strong wind. He was holding an umbrella above the blonde's head so now he himself was getting wet, but it looked as though it didn't bother him at all.

"Here," he said, "I think you need it more than me. Take it."

The other boy didn't know how to react because it was the first time he was put into this kind of situation. So, instead of doing anything, he was just staring at the green-haired boy, confused and surprised.

"Don't stare at me like that, curly," as he said that, he pointed to the funny curly eyebrow, "it's creepy. Just take the umbrella." But when the thinner boy was still sitting motionlessly on the rock, he snorted and made an irritated face. "Sheesh, a hopeless case, I see," he said and reached down, opened one of blonde's hands, put the umbrella in it and then clenched his fingers around the handle.

"Why?" The blonde asked, the expression of great shock crossed his face.

"Dunno. Just felt like it," he shrugged and peeked in the bag he was carrying. He had taken out two apples and a bun and then gave them to the other boy. "Have these as well. You look kinda hungry."

"I... thank you..." The blond-haired whispered. "But what about you? You'll get all wet."

"Naw, no biggie," he waved it aside and smiled.

"Zoro! What are you doing? Hurry up, we have to go!" Someone shouted somewhere ahead of them.

"Coming!" The boy named Zoro shouted back. "Sorry, I have to go. Take care and see you some day." The green-haired said and left.

The blond fixed his eyes on the other's boy figure as it slowly disappeared and then, when it was completely invisible, he moved his gaze to food. He took a bite of the bun and chewed it slowly, delighting in the wonderful sweet flavour.

'So tasty!' He thought with a big, bright smile.

All of the sudden, the gray day stopped being so gloomy.

— — —

Zoro was sitting on a bench in one of the city's parks which was not far away from a housing estate full of blocks of flats. It was raining heavily all damn day, and just to spite him – he had forgotten his damn umbrella and nobody could or wanted to let him borrow one.

It was a horrible day, one of the most awful days he'd had in his whole life. He got fired just when he needed money the most, he had yet to pay this month's bills and his father had been in hospital for over a week. The green-haired man wanted to go home, get some sleep on his favourite couch, watch a good movie or drink some sake, eventually beer, but at the same time he didn't want to move at all. He wanted to stay there, in the park, on the bench, and let the rain make him as wet as possible. He didn't care if he was going to be sick. He didn't care about being cold. He didn't care about anything.

So he kept sitting lost in his negative thoughts when suddenly someone appeared behind him and drops stopped falling down. He turned around only to see a young handsome tall man wearing an elegant suit and holding an umbrella in his hand. He had beautiful fluffy blond hair, one visible blue eye – the other one was hidden behind a fringe – and a strange swirly eyebrow...

What?

Zoro examined the other man for a longer while with a strange feeling that he had seen him somewhere before. But where? He started searching through his memory trying to find any image of the blonde.

'No, it's impossible,' he thought shocked. 'It was ages ago! It can't be him!'

But it was really him. That poor, sad, homeless kid he met when he was a small boy during a day as rainy as this. But how...?

"Hi," the blond said, a wide, cheerful smile on his pretty face. Zoro could swear it was the most wonderful and bright smile he'd ever seen. It seemed to lighten up everything around as if it was a sun. "You'll get a cold if you sit here like that, you stupid moss-head," he laughed softly.

"W-what did you say?"

"I said: 'You'll get a cold if you sit here like that, you stupid moss-head'. You deaf?"

"I won't be sick, I'm sure of th— wait! How dare you call me a moss-head!"

"I do, it's a revenge for calling me a 'curly'."

"How the hell you remember this?" Zoro asked surprised. "It was..."

"I have a very good memory," the blond interrupted. "I live five minutes from here so... wanna step by for a hot chocolate or something? I can cook a delicious dinner for us, too. And, oh, by the way, my name's Sanji."

"I'm..."

"Zoro. I know," his grin grew bigger as if saying this one particular name made him very happy. "So, are we going or not?"

The green-haired man didn't hesitate at all. It must had been fate for sure, he knew it somewhere deep inside of his heart.

"Sure," he said and smiled gently. He really couldn't help it — Sanji's smile was just infectious.

He changed his mind. This day wasn't so bad in the end. Not at all.

I hope you enjoyed the story. I worked on it really hard, mainly because English is not my native language (I'm from Poland) so I'd love to know what you think!